ANTIQUITIES 


OF  THE 


Francis,  White,  and  Black  Rivers 

ARKANSAS 


BY  CLARENCE  B.  MOORE 


LIBRARY 

OF  THK 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

SIFT    OF 


C/ass 


WRITINGS   ON    ARCHEOLOGY. 
BY  CLARENCE  B.  MOORE. 

Certain  Shell  Heaps  of  the  St.  John;?  River.  Florida,  hitherto  unexplored.  The  American 
Naturalist,  Nov.,  1892,  to  Jany.,  181)4.  inclusive.  Five  papers  with  illustrations  in  text, 
and  maps. 

Certain  Sand  .Mounds  of  the  St.  Johns  River,  Florida,  Parts  1  and  II.  Journal  of  the  Acad- 
eniv  of  Natural  Scieuees  of  Philadelphia,  Philadelphia,  1894.  \  ol.  X.  Quarto,  130  and 
123  pages.  Frontispieces,  maps,  plates,  illustrations  in  the  text. 

Certain  Sand  Mounds  of  Duval  County,  Florida;  Two  Mounds  on  Murphy  Island,  Florida;  Cer 
tain  Sand  Mounds  of  the  Ocklawaha  River,  Florida.  Journ.  Aead.  Nat.  Sei.  of  Phila., 
1895.  Vol.  X.  Quarto,  108  pages.  Frontispiece,  maps,  plates,  illustrations  in  text. 

Additional  Mounds  of  Duval  and  of  Clay  Counties,  Florida;  Mound  Investigation  on  the  East 
Coast  of  Florida;  Certain  Florida  Coast  Mounds  north  of  the  St.  Johns  River.  Private 
ly  printed.  Philadelphia,  189(i.  Quarto,  30  pages.  Map,  plates,  illustrations  in  text. 

Certain  Aboriginal  Mounds  of  the  Georgia  Coast.  Journ.  Aead.  Nat.  Sci.  of  Phila.,  1897.  Vol. 
XI.  Quarto.  14-1  pages.  Frontispiece,  map,  plates,  illustrations  in  text. 

Certain  Aboriginal  Mounds  of  the  Coast  of  South  Carolina;  Certain  Aboriginal  Mounds  of  the 
Savannah  River;  Certain  Aboriginal  Mounds  of  the  Altamaha  Kiver;  Eecent  Acquisi 
tions;  A  Cache  of  Pendent  Ornaments.  Journ.  Aead.  Nat.  Sci.  of  Phila.,  1898.  Vol. 
XL  Quarto,  4.S  pages.  Frontispiece,  maps,  illustrations  in  text. 

Certain  Aboriginal  Remains  of  the  Alabama  River.  Journ.  Aead.  Nat.  Sci.  of  Phila.,  1899. 
Vol.  XL  Quarto,  62  pages.  Map,  illustrations  in  text. 

Certain  Antiquities  of  the  Florida  West-Coast.  Journ.  Aead.  Nat.  Sci.  of  Phila.,  1900.  Vol. 
XI.  Quarto,  46  pages.  Maps,  illustrations  in  text. 

Certain  Aboriginal  He-mains  of  the  Northwest  Florida  Coast,  Part  1;  Certain  Aboriginal  lie- 
mains  of  the  Tombigbee  Kiver.  Journ.  Aead.  Nat.  Sci.  of  Phila.,  1901.  Vol.  XI.  Quar 
to,  100  pages.  Maps,  illustrations  in  text. 

Certain  Aboriginal  Hemains  of  the  Northwest  Florida  Coast,  Part  II.  Journ.  Aead.  Nat. 
Sci.  of  Phila.,  1902.  Vol.  XII.  Quarto,  235  pages.  Maps,  illustrations  in  text. 

Certain  Aboriginal  Mounds  of  the  Central  Florida  West-Coast;  Certain  Aboriginal  Mounds  of 
the  Apalaehicola  River.  Journ.  Aead.  Nat.  Sci.  of  Phila..  1903.  Vol.  Nil.  Quarto,  136 
pages.  Maps,  illustrations  in  text. 

Sheet-copper  from  the  Mounds  is  not  Necessarily  of  European  Origin.  American  Anthropol 
ogist.  Jan. — March,  1903.  Plates  in  text. 

The  So-called  "Hoe-shaped  Implement."  American  Anthropologist,  July-Sept.,  1903.  Illus 
trations  in  text. 

Aboriginal  Urn-burial  in  the  United   States.     American  Anthropologist,  Oct. -Dec.,  1904.  Plate. 

A  Form  of  Urn-burial  on  Mobile  Hay.     American  Anthropologist,  Jan. -March,  1905. 

Certain  Aboriginal  Remains  of  the  Black  Warrior  Kiver  [  Moundville  ]  :  Certain  Aboriginal  Re 
mains  of  the  Lower  Tombigbee  Kiver;  Certain  Aboriginal  Kemains  of  Mobile  Bay  and 
Mississippi  Sound;  Miscellaneous  Investigation  in  Florida.  Journ.  Aead.  Nat.  Sei.  of 
Phila.,  1905.  Vol.  XIII.  Quarto,  206  pages.  Maps,  illustrations  in  text. 

Moundville  Revisited;  Crystal  Kiver  Revisited:  Mounds  of  the  Lower  Chattahoochee  and  Low 
er  Flint  Rivers;  Notes  on  the  Ten  Thousand  Islands,  Florida.  Journ.  Aead.  Nat.  Sci. 
of  Phila.,  1907.  Vol.  XIII.  Quarto,  144  pages.  Maps,  illustrations  in  text. 

Certain  Mounds  of  Arkansas  and  of  Mississippi  (including  Doctor  Hrdlicka's  paper  on  the 
Crania).  Journ.  Aead.  Nat.  Sci.  of  Phila..  1908.  Vol.  XIII.  Quarto,  about  128  pages. 
Maps,  illustrations  in  text,  eight  colored  plates. 

Antiquities  of  the  Ouaehita  Valley.  Journ.  Aead.  Nat.  Sci.  of  Phila..  1909.  Vol.  XIV.  Quar 
to,  170  pages.  Maps,  illustrations  in  text,  eight  colored  plates.  (In  addition  in  this 
number  is  Doctor  Hrdlicka's  paper  on  the  skeletal  remains.) 

Antiquities  of  the  St.  Francis,  White,  and  Black  Rivers.  Journ.  Aead.  Nat.  Sci.  of  Phila.. 
1910.  Vol.  XIV.  Quarto,  112  pages.  Maps,  illustrations  in  text,  twenty  colored 
plates. 


Antiquities  of  the  St.  Francis,  White,  and 
Black  Rivers,  Arkansas 


Part   I 
ST.  FRANCIS  RIVER 


Part  II 
WHITE,  AND  BLACK  RIVERS 


BY 


CLARENCE  B.  MOORE. 


REPRINT    FROM   THE    JOURNAL    OF    THE    ACADEMY    OF    NATURAL    SCIENCES 

OF    PHILADELPHIA,   VOLUME    XIV. 


rillLADKLPHIA  : 

P.    C.   STOCKHAL'SKN 

53-55  N-  71'1  Street 

1910 


Poplar  Bluj| 


M    S  S  OUR 

Slate  line 


ARKANSAS 


MAP  Of  PARTS  OP  THE  WHITE.BLACK.CURRENT 
ST.  TRANCIS  AND  LITTLE  RIVERS 


ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WIIITP],    AND 
I5LACK    RIVKRS,    ARKANSAS. 

I>V    Cl.AKKNCK    B.    MOOKK. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Our  last  season's  field  work,  all  of  it  in  the-  State  of  Arkansas,  occupied  most 
of  the  months  of  November,  1909,  and  .January  and  April.  1910.  and  all  of  Febru 
ary  and  March,  1910. 

The  regions  covered  by  us  were :  St.  Francis  river  to  its  union  with  Little 
river,  \7'2  miles  by  water,1  and  up  the  latter  stream  to  Lepanto,  20  miles  further: 
White  river  to  its  union  with  Black  river.  '2i>~>  miles  by  water;  and  Black  river  to 
its  junction  with  Current  river,  a  distance  of  109  miles. 

White  river  is  navigable  in  favorable  seasons  from  the  union  with  Black  river 
to  Batesville,  Ark.,  37  miles  by  water;  but  at  the  time  of  our  visit  the  state  of 
White  river  was  not  such  as  to  permit  us  to  go  much  farther  up  it  than  its  union 
with  Black  river,  nor  had  our  success  on  White  river  been  such  as  to  tempt  us  to 
do  so. 

As  we  have  explained  in  former  reports,  it  is  our  custom  each  summer  to  have 
Mr.  J.  S.  Raybon,  captain  of  the  steamer  from  which  our  work  in  the  winter  is 
done,  who  is  deeply  interested  in  our  investigations  and  renders  efficient  aid,  visit 
in  advance  such  territory  as  wre  desire  to  explore,  in  order  to  find  the  exact  situa 
tion  of  all  mounds  and  cemeteries  in  that  territory,  with  the  names  of  their  owners, 
that  we  may  obtain  permission  in  advance  to  investigate  these  sites,  that  later  our 
work  may  not  be  impeded.  Incidentally,  we  may  say  that  owners  of  property 
throughout  the  South  are,  as  a  rule,  most  kind  in  granting  us  permission  to  dig,  and 
the  Academy  here  takes  the  opportunity  to  express  its  sincere  thanks  to  the  owners 
of  mounds  and  of  cemeteries  along  the  rivers  we  have  mentioned,  for  the  cordial 
way  their  property  was  placed  at  our  disposal.  As  much  of  this  property  is  culti 
vated  ground,  and  as  we  were  present  at  many  places  in  the  planting  season,  per 
mission  for  unlimited  digging  is  certainly  a  considerable  favor,  and  it  is  so  regarded 
by  the  Academy. 

The  territory  explored  by  Captain  Raybon  in  advance  of  our  coining  (see  map) 
was  St.  Francis  river  to  its  union  with  Little  river,  and  Little  river  to  the  foot 
of  Big  Lake.  Ark.,  2G'2  miles  by  water. 

1  All  distances  on  these  rivers  kindly  have  been  furnished  the  Academy  by  Major  M.  I,.  AValker, 
United  States  Engineer  Cirp-,  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  to  whom  the  Academy  is  indebted  for  many  courtesies. 

:i-2  .IOURN.  A.   X.  S.   I'HILA..   VOL.  XIV. 


203719 


256  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

In  addition,  Captain  Raybon  explored  White  river  to  the  mouth  of  Black  river, 
and  Black  river  to  Poplar  Bluff,  Mo.,  a  distance  of  497  miles  by  water;  and  also 
traversed  Current  river  from  its  union  with  Black  river  to  Doniphan,  Mo.,  53  miles 
by  water. 

Work  on  Black  river  north  of  its  union  with  Current  river,  and  on  Current 
river,  was  abandoned  b\'  us  on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  artifacts  with  aboriginal 
burials  and  of  the  inferior  quality  of  such  artifacts  as  were  found  with  them  in  our 
investigations. 

It  is  not  possible  to  take  a  boat  on  St.  Francis  river  above  its  union  with 
Little  river,  but  the  latter  stream  at  the  time  of  our  visit  was  easily  navigable  to 
Big  Lake.  Our  quest,  however,  which  ended  at  Lepanto,  on  Little  river,  came  to 
an  end  owing  to  the  hostility  against  negroes,  entertained  by  the  natives  along  the 
river  above  Lepanto,  who  maintain  a  negro  dead-line,  permitting  no  colored  person 
to  go  among  them.  As  this  race  prejudice  has  resulted  in  the  murder  of  a  number 
of  negroes,  we  did  not  deem  it  fair  to  expose  to  slaughter  men  who  had  served  us 
faithfully  for  years.  Our  sole  motive  for  referring  to  this  disagreeable  episode  is 
that  when  an  amply  equipped  expedition  abandons  a  most  promising  region,  a  valid 
reason  for  doing  so  should  be  forthcoming. 

As  we  have  explained  in  former  reports,  our  archa'ological  work  in  the  South 
is  done  from  a  stern-wheel  steamer  one  hundred  feet  in  length  and  twenty  feet 
beam.  This  steamer  is  navigated  by  a  captain,  a  pilot,  an  engineer,  and  a  crew  of 
five  men.  In  addition,  there  were  with  us  the  last  season,  six  men  to  dig,  who, 
aided  by  three  of  the  crew,  made  a  force  of  nine  men  in  all  for  this  work. 

Dr.  M.  G.  Miller,  anatomist  of  the  expedition,  who  has  taken  part  in  all  our 
field  work  and  in  putting  through  the  press  all  our  reports,  aided  the  investigation 
this  season  as  usual. 

Mr.  Arthur  W.  Clime,  with  the  party  for  the  third  year,  rendered  most  efficient 
aid  in  a  variety  of  ways. 

Our  thanks  are  tendered  Prof.  F.  W.  Putnam  and  Mr.  Charles  C.  Willoughby 
for  much  valuable  aid  in  connection  with  the  pottery  of  the  St.  Francis  river;  Prof. 
F.  A.  Lucas  for  identification  of  bones  of  lower  animals;  Dr.  II.  A.  Pilsbry  and 
Mr.  E.  G.  Vanatta  for  determination  of  shells;  Prof.  R.  A.  F.  Penrose,  Jr.,  for 
identification  of  minerals  and  rocks; l  Dr.  H.  F.  Keller  for  chemical  determinations; 
Miss  H.  N.  Wardle  for  valuable  suggestions,  and  aid  with  the  index;  and  Mr.  F.  W. 
Hodge  for  literary  revision  of  this  report. 

Throughout  our  season's  work  thirty-eight  boxes  and  cases  of  skulls  and  of 
other  skeletal  remains  were  carefully  preserved  by  us  and  were  forwarded  as  a  gift 
to  the  United  States  National  Museum.  These  remains,  at  a  later  period,  will  be 
fully  described  by  Dr.  Ales  Hrdlicka,  Curator  of  the  Division  of  Physical  Anthro 
pology  in  the  National  Museum. 

All  measurements  of  vessels  and  of  other  objects  described  in  this  report  are 
approximate,  and  any  reduction  in  size  in  the  illustrations  is  linear.  The  vessels 
and  other  objects  may  be  seen  at  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia. 

'  As  sections  for  microscopic  examination,  cut  from  the  various  specimens,  were  not  furnished  by 
us,  the  basis  for  exact  determination  was  not  so  ample  as  it  otherwise  would  have  been. 


'• 


• 


Fortune  Mounds 

LogLd^pLx  '-^/.IMear  lurKeylSland 
"Catfish  Mounds 


Nee  le4'sFer-ry.C^  Jones  andBorum  Plac 
Togo  — 


MAP  OF  PARTS  OF  THE  ST  FRANCIS  AND  LITTLE  RIVERS 

Scale  in  miles 


JOUKN.  A.  X.  S.   I'HILA.,  VOL.  XIV. 


PART    I. 
ST.  FKAXCIS  RIVER. 

St.  Francis  river  enters  the  Mississippi  on  the  western  side,  about  twelve  miles 
above  the  city  of  Helena,  Ark. 

The  banks  in  places  are  fairly  high  and  are  not  subject  to  overflow  except  on 
rare  occasions.  It  is  not  likely  that  the  great  aboriginal  sites  along  the  river  have 
suffered  to  any  great  extent  through  wash  of  water. 

The  principal  sites  along  the  St.  Francis,  although  as  a  rule  having  mounds  in 
connection  with  them,  are  in  reality  great  dwelling-sites  which  have  increased  in 
height  gradually  through  long  periods  of  occupancy,  and  the  aborigines,  burying 
where  they  lived,  have  formed,  in  course  of  time,  great  cemeteries  in  which  burials 
lie  at  various  depths  often  depending  on  the  period  in  the  growth  of  the  site  when 
the  burial  was  made. 

All  these  burials  in  the  various  sites  we  believe  to  have  been  pre-Columbian.1 

1  The  reader  is  doubtless  aware  that  native  copper  (which  is  not  found  in  merchantable  (juantities 
in  Europe),  such  as  was  used  by  the  aborigines  in  the  United  States  before  the  coining  of  Europeans,  is 
far  purer  than  is  copper  produced  by  smelting  from  the  ores  found  in  Europe,  which  are  sulphide  ores 
and  contain  many  impurities  that  cannot  be  wholly  eliminated  in  smelting. 

Three  specimens  of  copper  from  burial  sites  in  the  St.  Francis  Valley  were  submitted  to  Dr.  H.  F. 
Keller,  who  reports  as  follows  : 

"  Having  completed  the  chemical  examination  of  the  materials  you  sent  me  May  21st,  I  would 
state  my  results  as  follows: 

"1.  The  copper  bead  marked  'Big  Eddy,  with  burial  No.  5'  consisted  of  a  piece  of  foil   lapped  at 
one  edge  and  rolled  into  a  cylinder.     The  crust  of  carbonate,  etc.,   was  removed   with   acid,   and   the 
clean  metal  carefully  analyzed.     It  yielded — 
"Copper  99.91  # 
"Silver         .031 
"  Iron  .023 

"  Lead,  arsenic,  antimony,  and  other  metals  were  absent.  There  can  be  no  doubt  therefore  that 
the  bead  was  made  from  native  copper. 

"'2.  The  smaller  bead  marked  '  Mound  on  Rose  Place,  Cross  County,  Arkansas,' after  cleaning 
with  acid,  was  found  to  contain  99. 9^  of  copper  and  traces  of  silver  and  iron,  but  no  other  metallic 
impurities. 

"3.  The  fragments  of  copper  marked  'Mounds  above  Turkey  Island,  Cross  Co.,  Ark.,  with  burial 
No.  35'  were  found  thickly  intTusted  with  carbonate  of  copper  and  clay.  This  material  contains  about 
*0''  of  copper,  but  no  trace  of  lead,  arsenic,  antimony,  or  other  impurities  characteristic  of  copper 
extracted  from  sulphide  ores  could  be  detected  in  it.  It  showed  however  a  very  marked  reaction  for 
silver. 

"4.  The  'red  paint'  from  cemetery  on  Cummings  Place,  Poinsett  Co.,  Ark.,  is  a  clay  colored  red 
by  an  admixture  of  about  8'/  oxide  of  iron. 

"5.  The  earthy  material  of  very  bright  red  color  is  similar  in  composition,  but  contains  13.3'' 
ferric  oxide. 

"The  tests  of  the  specimens  of  copper  were  made  with  the  greatest  care,  and  they  leave  no  room 
for  doubt  that  these  objects  were  fashioned  from  the  native  metal." 

We  learn  also  by  this  report  that  the  red  pigments  in  use  by  the  aborigines  along  the  St.  Francis 
were  clays  colored  with  red  oxide  of  iron — a  purely  aboriginal  product. 


AM)    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS.  259 

since  in  no  instance  in  I  lie  digging  done  by  us  along  the-  St.  Francis  was  any  object 
found  in  anv  way  indicating  intercourse  with  Europeans.  Tbe  St.  Francis  appears 
to  have  been  peculiarlv  secluded.  Thomas  Ashe.1  who  (raveled  down  the  Missi>- 
sippi  so  late  as  1806.  says  of  the  St.  Francis.  "  Near  its  continence  with  the  Missi.-- 
sippi.  it  is  subject  to  inundations  but  toward  the  head  of  its  navigation  it  has  high 
and  fertile  banks,  which  are  thickly  occupied  by  Indian  nations,  of  whom  nothing 
is  known,  as  there  are  no  white  settlers  among  them,  and  as  they  have  never  been 
visited  bv  any  person  disposed  to  discover  their  character  and  history." 

Aboriginal   burials  in  the  St.  Francis  region    usually  had  been   made  extended 

*/ 

on  the  back,  and,  with  the  exception  of  pottery,  but  little  had  been  placed  with 
them,  though  there  were  main  exceptions  to  this  rule. 

Several  instances  of  cremation  of  human  remains  were  found  by  us  along  the 
river,  and  there1  was  one  instance  of  cremated  human  bones  deposited  in  a  vessel 
of  earthenware. 

The  St.  Francis  valley  forms  part  of  the  Middle  .Mississippi  region,  which 
region  is  defined  by  Holmes2  as  follows: 

"The  geographic  distribution  of  the  ware  of  this  group  naturally  receives  first 
consideration.  Apparently  its  greatest  and  most  striking  development  centers  about 
the  contiguous  portions  of  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Illinois.  Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 

The  aboriginal  pottery  of  this  Middle  Mississippi  region  is  more  abundant  than 
is  that  of  any  other  part  of  the  United  States,  and  this  pottery  probably  has  been 
more  fully  described  and  figured  than  has  the  ware  from  any  other  portion  of  our 
country. 

The  St.  Francis  valley  has  yielded  more  examples  of  its  ware  than  has  any 
equal  area  in  the  United  States,  and  while  this  pottery  has  shared  in  the  full 
description  which  has  been  accorded  the  earthenware  of  the  region  to  which  it 
belongs,  and  while  we  can  hope  to  shed  but  little  new  light  upon  the  pottery  itself, 
we  shall  try  to  describe  in  this  report  the  conditions  under  which  the  vessels  were 
placed  with  the  dead  and  the  burial  customs  of  the  aborigines  who  made  the  vessels, 
details  which  former  seekers  of  aboriginal  remains  along  the  St.  Francis  have  failed 
to  make  public. 

As  the  St.  Francis  (with  the  possible  exception  of  the  Mississippi,  a  river  very 
many  times  the  length  of  the  St.  Francis)  long  has  had  the  reputation  of  being 
richer  in  aboriginal  earthenware  than  is  any  other  river  in  the  United  States,  the 
territory  through  which  the  river  passes  has  been  for  years  the  headquarters  for 
collectors  and  for  persons  wishing  to  make  a  livelihood  or  to  increase  their  means 
by  the  sale  of  Indian  pottery,  and  these  individuals  have  worked  for  long  periods 
and  with  indefatigable  zeal.  Moreover,  vast  numbers  of  vessels  have  been  destroyed 
along  the  St.  Francis  in  the  process  of  cultivation  of  the  cemeteries  in  which  they 
lav.  while  others  have  been  dug  out  or  have  been  shattered  in  the  digging  by 

1  ''Travels  in  America."     London,  180!',  p.  273. 

J  William   H.   Holmes.     "Aboriginal  Potterv  of  Eastern  United  States."     2(>th   An.   Kep.   Bui. 
Am.  Etlin.,  p.  NO. 


260  ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE   ST.    FRANCIS,   WHITE, 

unskilled  local  endeavor.      Consequently  the  limitations  of  the  scientific  worker 
along  St.  Francis  river  at  the  present  time  are  apparent. 

Though  we  were  merely  gleaners  along  the  St.  Francis,  so  far  as  the  acquisition 
of  pottery  there  was  concerned,  and  while  the  number  of  vessels  obtained  by  us 
was  far  smaller  than  it  would  have  been  had  the  time  of  our  visit  been  advanced  a 
score  of  years,  yet  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  average  quality 
of  the  vessels  obtained  by  us  can  differ  from  that  of  earlier  discoveries  along  the 
river. 

The  earthenware  is  shell-tempered.  Quantity  rather  than  quality  seems  to 
hfive  been  the  aim  of  its  makers,  for  the  ware  is  often  insufficiently  fired,  and  the 
vessels  are  frequently  thick  and  out  of  shape — "lop-sided,"  to  use  an  expression 
exactly  describing  them. 

The  high  polish  of  the  surface  often  found  on  vessels  from  Mississippi,  Alabama, 
and  Louisiana,  is  almost  absent  on  the  St.  Francis. 

A  very  large  proportion  of  the  vessels  are  undecorated  or  have  some  trivial 
form  of  decoration  such  as  beaded,  notched,  or  scalloped  margins,  or  else  loop-han 
dles  below  the  rim  or  ears  projecting  from  it  (if  handles  and  ears,  which  were  used 
to  aid  suspension,  may  be  classed  as  decoration).  Superior  trailed  or  incised  deco 
ration  is  almost  never  seen  on  the  St.  Francis  pottery,  the  inferior  surface  of  most 
of  the  ware  being  unsuited  to  incised  decoration  of  excellent  quality,  even  had  it 
been  attempted.  When  incised  decoration  is  met  with  on  the  St.  Francis  ware,  it 
is  as  a  rule  rude  and  scanty,  being  confined  to  parts  just  below  the  rim,  and  usually 
is  restricted  to  vessels  intended  for  culinary  purposes.  On  the  few  vessels  found 
by  us  having  incised  decoration,  it  is  almost  invariably  of  a  kind  so  elementary  in 
design  and  execution  that  the  vessels  are  entirely  out-classed  in  this  respect  by 
those  found  in  some  other  regions.  But  one  really  superior  piece  of  incised  work 
was  found  by  us  on  the  whole  St.  Francis  river,  and  but  two  or  three  of  even 
medium  quality.  This  comparative  absence  of  incised  decoration  on  St.  Francis 
pottery  is  conducive  to  great  monotony  in  the  appearance  of  its  vessels,  since  very 
many  of  them,  which  would  have  decoration  in  other  regions,  are  wholly  without 
it  on  the  St.  Francis. 

Of  course  there  are  some  exceptions  to  the  general  inferiority  of  vessels  along 
the  river — perhaps  about  eight  per  cent.1  of  those  found  there  present  other  than 
most  minor  points  of  interest  as  to  form  or  decoration.  Vessels  of  the  better  class 
found  by  us  will  be  fully  described  and  illustrated  in  this  report.  As,  however, 
almost  none  of  our  vessels  are  of  types  wholly  new  to  the  pottery  of  the  Middle 
Mississippi  valley  region,  we  feel  an  explanation  to  be  due  for  introducing  illustra 
tions  of  them.  Many  of  these  vessels  present  minor  points  of  difference  from  those 
which  have  been  figured  elsewhere,  and  illustrations  given  in  some  of  the  earlier 
wrorks  were  made  at  a  time  when  technical  methods  had  not  reached  the  excellence 
they  have  attained  at  present. 

1  Fourteen  hundred  and  fifteen  vessel.*,  whole  and  broken,  were  found  by  us  on  St.  Francis  river  and 
on  the  small  part  of  Little  river  investigated  by  us.  All  these  vessels  were  most  carefully  examined 
by  us  before  being  rejected  in  place,  being  given  to  owners  of  the  lands,  being  turned  over  to  minor 
institutions,  or  reserved  for  our  collection  at  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences. 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS.    ARKANSAS.  261 

Owing  to  the  widespread  attention  that  the  pottery  of  the  St.  Francis  has 
received  already,  we  shall  ornit  in  the  main  from  our  description  of  the  ware  the 
commoner  forms  of  the  pottery  of  this  region,  and  shall  have  but  little  to  say  of 
the  undecorated  bottles,  pots,  and  bowls  of  commonplace  form;  the  bowls  and  pots 
with  loop-handles  or  ears,  arid  with  trivial  decoration,  such  as  knobs,  notches,  fillets, 
or  rude  incised  or  punctate  markings;  bowls  having  rudely  modeled  heads  project 
ing  from  one  side  and  conventional  tails  on  the  opposite  side:  many  bowls  having 
forms  of  the  fish  in  profile;  bottles  with  dual  necks  uniting  near  the  opening  or 
with  annular  or  tripod  supports;  or  bottles  having  coarse  representations  of  the 
human  head  at  the  opening;  vessels  bearing  in  relief  representations  of  the  frog; 
shell  forms,  fresh-water  and  marine;  various  forms  of  the  gourd,  including  ladles; 
vessels  of  ordinary  shape  with  uniform  coatings  of  red  pigment. 

The  great  majority  of  vessels  found  by  us  along  St.  Francis  river  were  in  frag 
ments,  as  indeed  we  have  found  the  ease  to  be  evervwhere  else.  These  fragments 
were  carefully  gathered  and,  if  found  worthy  of  restoration,  were  labeled  and  sent 
to  the  Academy  of.  Natural  Sciences,  where  they  were  cemented  together  in  their 
original  shapes,1  occasionally  with  slight  restoration.  This  restoration  is  never 
attempted  unless  it  is  entirely  warranted  by  the  form  of  the  remainder  of  the  ves 
sel,  as,  for  example,  the  addition  of  a  handle  similar  to  another  on  the  vessel,  or 
the  insertion  of  a  portion  of  the  rim  or  of  the  body.  The  restoration,  moreover,  is 
made  with  a  material  that  can  be  distinguished  at  once  from  that  of  which  the 
vessel  is  made. 

The  student  of  the  earthenware  of  the  St.  Francis  who  is  not  already  familiar 
with  that  part  of  Professor  Holmes'  "  Aboriginal  Pottery  of  Eastern  United 
States,"2  which  treats  of  the  ware  of  the  Middle  Mississippi  valley,  is  recommended 
to  accord  it  careful  attention,  inasmuch  as  nearly  all  the  forms  and  decorations  of 
pottery  found  along  the  St.  Francis,  as  well  as  in  adjacent  territory,  are  carefully 
described  and  figured  in  it.  Also,  ''An  Analysis  of  the  Decorations  upon  Pottery 
from  the  Mississippi  Valley"3  will  prove  interesting  to  read  in  connection  with  the 
decoration  of  vessels  figured  in  this  report. 

As  a  general  rule  the  mortuary  deposit  of  pottery  along  the  St.  Francis  was 
placed  near  the  head  of  the  skeleton,  though  there  were  a  number  of  exceptions  to 
this  rule  where  vessels  were  found  near  various  parts  of  the  body.  In  cases  of 
deposits  of  a  considerable  number  of  vessels,  the  pottery  sometimes  began  at  the 
head  and  extended  downward.  In  the  case  of  an  infant  which  had  eleven  vessels 
with  it,  the  pottery  deposit  extended  almost  the  full  length  of  the  skeleton,  if  not 
its  entire  length.  However,  in  the  great  majority  of  cases  vessels  of  earthenware 
lay  at  the  heads,  and  ''pot-hunters"  along  the  river,  having  dug  down  to  vessels 
near  skulls,  which  they  had  discovered  with  the  aid  of  sounding-rods,  seldom  dug 
out  the  entire  skeletons,  reali/ing  that  the  chance  of  finding  other  vessels  with 
them  did  not  warrant  their  doing  so. 

i  The  effigy  vessel  from  the  Homier  Place,  on  St.  Francis  river,  was  found  in  ninety-five  pieces. 

!     Op.    ('it. 

3  Charles  C.  Willoughby,     Journal  of  American  Folk-lore,  Vol.  X,  1897. 


ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

The  position  of  vessels  in  respect  to  each  other  along  the  St.  Francis  was  the 
same  as,  \ve  have  found  it  to  be  elsewhere.  Vessels  often  lay  within  other  vessels 
or  under  them,  and  bottles  were  often  capped  by  small,  inverted  bowls  which  some 
times,  in  the  case  of  bottles  with  short  necks,  covered  the  neck  completely,  the  rim 
of  the  inverted  bowl  resting  on  the  body  of  the  bottle. 

In  main  vessels,  or  occasionally  placed  on  the  openings  of  some  of  them,  were 
mussel-shells  which  had  served  as  spoons.'  and  sometimes  shells  carved  to  represent 
spoons  were  present. 

In  burial  sites  along  St.  Francis  and  Little  rivers  were  found  bones  from  various 
animals  which  Prof.  F.  A.  Lucas  kindly  has  determined  as  dog.  deer,  otter,  beaver, 
cottontail  rabbit,  raccoon,  wildcat,  and  probably  elk. 

We  shall  now  describe  certain  sites  along  St.  Francis  and  Little  rivers,  taken 
in  order  going  up-stream,  introducing  only  sites  where  our  search  was  rewarded, 
though  many  others  were  visited  by  us  and  much  unproductive  work  was  done  in 
them.  We  believe  we  had  the  privilege  of  examining  all  the  important  sites  along 
the  St.  Francis  except  two  (some  were  exhausted  years  ago),  and  these  two  sites, 
the  Clay-Luna  Place  and  the  Cook  Place,  both  in  Cross  County,  it  is  needless  to 
sav.  were  not  omitted  by  us  without  many  strenuous  efforts  for  permission  to 
investigate. 

SlTKS     IXYKSTKiATEl). 

Forrest  Place,  Lee  Countv. 

^ 

Whitehall  Place,  Lee  County. 

Castile  Place,  St.  Francis  County. 

Bonner  Place,  St.  Francis  County. 

Big  Eddy,  St.  Francis  County. 

Bay  Ferry,  Cross  County. 

Rose  Mound,  Cross  County. 

Parkin,  Cross  County. 

Togo,  Cross  County. 

Jones  and  Borum  Places,  Cross  County. 

Neeley's  Ferry.  Cross  County. 

Catfish  Mounds,  Cross  County. 

Mounds  above  Turkey  Island.  Cross  County. 

Log  Landing,  Cross  County. 

Fortune  Mounds,  Cross  County. 

Turnbow  Place,  Cross  County. 

Lindsay  Place,  Poinsett  County. 

Curnmings  Place,  Poinsett  County. 

Miller  Place,  Poinsett  County. 

Potter  Place,  Poinsett  County. 

Stott  Place,  Poinsett  County. 

1  In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  Japanese  word  kai  stands  for  both  shell  and 
i-poon :  and  that  the  Chinese  ideograph  for  the  word  "  spoon  "  is  said  to  have  been  copied  from  a  shell 
resembling  a  pecten.  N.  Gordon  Munro,  M.  D.,  "Reflections  on  some  European  Palseolitha  and 
Japanese  Survivals."  Transactions  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Japan,  Vol.  XXXVI,  Part  III. 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS.    ARKANSAS.  263 

( 'KMKTKKV  ox  TIIK   FOKHKST  PF.ACK.   LKK  COINTY. 

doing  inland  from  Forrest  Place  Landing  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in  a 
southwesterly  course  (or  considerably  more  by  the  winding  road),  that  part  of  the 
Forrest  Place  is  reached  which  belongs  to  Mr.  Stephen  Blackstone,  of  Macomb.  111. 

The  surface  of  the  cultivated  part  of  Mr.  Blackstone' 8  property  is  strewn  with 
midden-debris,  including  numerous  small  arrowheads  of  flint1  and  bits  of  pottery, 
some  of  which  latter,  of  thin  ware,  still  are  colored  a  brilliant  red. 

There  is  considerable  history  of  the  finding  of  human  bones  and  of  pottery 
vessels  all  over  the  Forrest  Place,  which  borders  the  low  hills  that  there  approach 
the  river.  Colored  tenants  showed  us  two  earthenware  vessels  that  had  been 
ploughed  up  by  them,  one  of  which,  somewhat  broken  after  its  discovery,  evidently 
had  been  of  the  "teapot"  variety,  though  the  spout  was  missing  when  the  vessel 
was  recovered  by  us  in  the  field  where  it  had  been  left  by  the  discoverer. 

This  vessel  differs  somewhat  in  details  from  the  "teapot"  vessel  found  in 
regions  farther  south,  in  that  it  has  a  flat  base  projecting  somewhat,  and  a  neck  of 
the  compound  form  resembling  a  small  cup. 

In  a  part  of  the  field  where  debris  was  thickest  and  where  the  soil  was  dark 
est,  considerable  digging  was  done  by  us.  resulting  in  the  discovery  of  six  burials. 
These  burials,  however,  were  so  widely  separated  that  the  place  could  hardly  be 
considered  a  cemetery  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word. 

The  burials  lay  in  pits,  the  deepest  3  feet  from  the  surface.  The  condition  of 
the  bones  was  such  that  no  skulls  could  be  saved,  most  of  the  burials,  in  fact,  being 
hardly  more  than  decaying  fragments  of  bone.  Three  burials  lay  closely  flexed  mi 
the  left  side,  the  head  of  one  being  bent  forward  on  the  chest. 

Burial  No.  5  lay  with  the  trunk  on  the  back,  the  thighs  flexed  upward  in  a 
manner  to  raise  the  knees  considerably  above  the  level  of  the  trunk,  the  legs  tlexed 
closely  against  the  thighs. 

Burial  No.  (i  had  the  trunk  twisted,  the  lower  part  being  on  the  back  and  the 
upper  part  on  the  right  side.  The  thighs  were  partly  flexed  and  widely  everted, 
while  the  legs  were  partly  flexed,  the  feet  being  together.  The  head  rested  on  the 
right  shoulder. 

One  skeleton,  that  of  a  child,  was  badly  decayed. 

Twelve  vessels  were  found  by  us  in  the  digging,  lying  at  various  parts  of  the 
skeletons,  never  more  than  two  with  a  burial,  though  three  vessels  were  found 
together  with  no  bones  in  association. 

In  the  soil,  apart  from  human  remains,  was  a  pebble  of  quart/ite.1'  flat,  nearly 
round,  about  '2.'2  inches  in  diameter  and  .3  inch  in  thickness,  having  near  the  mar 
gin  a  perforation  for  suspension. 

1  Unless  otherwise  specified,  the  term  "flint"  is  useil  in  this  report  as  a  general  name  lor  the  mate 
rial  of  oUjects  made  of  chert,  hornstone,  chalcedony,  opal,  and  other  silicious  materials,  including  the 
rock  known  as  novaculite,  found  abundantly  in  southwestern  Arkansas. 

-'  Professor  K.  A.  F.  Penrose,  Jr.,  who  for  several  years  was  connected  with  the  Geological  Survey 
iif  Arkansas,  and  who  kindly  determined  for  us  the  rocks  of  which  the  objects  of  stone  found  by  us 
last  season  are  made,  writes:  "It  is  evident  that  most  of  the  implements  you  showed  me  might  have 
been  made  from  materials  found  in  Arkansas  •  •  •  .  The  massive  shale,  the  slate,  the  limestone,  the 
sandstone,  the  quartzite,  the  flint,  the  chert,  the  quartz  and  the  calcite,  from  which  many  of  the  imple 
ments  were  made,  are  found  abundantly  in  that  State.'' 


2(54  ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

CEMETERIES  ON  THE  WHITEHALL  PLACE,  LEE  COUNTY. 

The  Whitehall  Plantation,  one  of  four  kindly  placed  at  our  disposal  by  Messrs. 
Banks  and  Harrelson  (Lem  Banks  and  W.  H.  Harrelson),  of  Memphis,  Tenn.,  is 
bordered  on  one  side  by  St.  Francis  river  and  on  the  opposite  side  by  the  Missis 
sippi,  the  rivers  at  this  place  not  being  much  more  than  two  miles  apart. 

About  one  mile  in  a  NW.  direction  from  Franks  Landing  on  the  St.  Francis  is 
a  mound,  II  feet  in  height,  in  a  cultivated  field  belonging  to  the  plantation.  The 
basal  outline  is  irregular,  the  principal  diameters  being  105  feet  and  125  feet.  The 
summit-plateau  is  50  feet  by  67  feet.  This  mound,  which  has  every  appearance  of 
having  been  domiciliary,  was  dug  into  by  us  with  negative  results  in  the  endeavor 
to  ascertain  if  superficial  burials  had  been  made  in  the  plateau. 

Adjacent  to  the  mound  is  a  tract  of  land  said  to  be  above  high  water  at  all 
seasons.  In  this  tract,  about  40  yards  in  a  northerly  direction  from  the  mound,  an 
earthenware  vessel  was  discovered  some  distance  below  the  surface  by  the  aid  of  a 
sounding-rod,  and  later,  with  the  help  of  trial-holes,  an  area  roughly  elliptical  in 
outline,  38  feet  by  '27  feet,  was  defined  as  containing  burials.  This  space,  rich, 
alluvial  deposit,  was  practically  dug  through  by  us,  such  parts  only  being  left  undug 
as  were  too  small  to  contain  a  burial  without  discovery. 

The  burials,  twelve   in   number,  lay  from   8   inches  to  26   inches  below   the 

i/ 

surface.      They  had  suffered  through  decay  to  an  extent  that  made  preservation 

impossible.     Their  positions  were  as  follows  : 

Partly  flexed  on  the  right  side  (including  one  adolescent)          .          .          4 
Partly  flexed  on  the  left  side  .......         3 

Children,  position  undetermined       .......          3 

Burial  No.  3  lay  with  the  trunk  on  the  back,  the  thighs  and  legs  partly  Hexed 

to  the  left  side. 


FKJ.  1.— Pipe  of  earthenware.     With  Burial  No.  3.     Whitehall  I'lace.     (Full  size.) 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS.    ARKANSAS. 


265 


Burial  No.  1'2.  lying  with  tin-  trunk  on  the  buck,  hud  the  knees  drawn  up 
toward  the  chin. 

Seven  vessels  of  earthenware  came  from  this  little  cemetery,  six  of  which  were 
immediately  with  burials. 

Burial  No.  3.  adult,  in  addition  to  a  bottle  at  the  left  humerus,  had,  at  the 
left  elbow,  an  interesting  pipe  of  hard,  black  ware,  shown  in  Fig.  1. 

Of  the  seven  vessels  from  this  place,  some  of  which  were  badly  crushed,  three 
were  undecoruted  bottles  with  wide  mouths,  and  one  was  an  undecorated  bowl. 

The  three  remaining  vessels  merit  particular  description. 

Vessel  No.  '2,  a  bottle  of  yellow  ware,  decorated  with  alternate,  upright  bands 
of  red  and  cream-colored  pigment.  The  neck  of  the  bottle,  the  upper  part  of  which 
is  missing,  has  a  uniform  coating  of  red  pigment. 

Vessel  No.  3.  This  bottle  (Fig.  2),  rather  neatly  shaped,  has  six  lobes  on  the 
body,  each  surmounted  by  a  notched  band  in  relief. 


Kit;.  2.  — Vessel  Xo.  3.     Whitehall  I'hire.     (Height  ,~>.l  inches.) 

Vessel  No.  1.  The  vessel  shown  in  Fig.  3  is  of  a  shape  somewhat  uncommon 
along  St.  Francis  river,  and  as  the  Mississippi  is  but  two  miles  distant  from  where 
the  vessel  was  found,  it  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  a  St.  Francis  type.  Four  heads 
of  frogs  in  relief  adorn  the  body. 

In  places  on  the  surface  of  this  plantation  were  signs  of  aboriginal  occupancy, 
including  a  few  flint  arrowheads,  nearly  all  small  and  leaf-shaped:  numerous  frag 
ments  of  pottery,  some  of  excellent  ware  bearing  well-preserved  decoration  of  red 

34  JOUKX.  A.   X.  S.    I'll  I  LA.,   VOL.  XIV. 


200 


ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE. 


pigment.     A  "celt"  of  volcanic  rock,  about  6.5  inches  in  length,  was  picked  up  on 
the  surface. 

About  35  yards  northeasterly  from  the  mound  was  a  small  area  of  sand  having 
a  slight  admixture  of  clay,  the  only  soil  of  this  kind  we  noticed  in  our  search  over 
the  higher  parts  of  the  plantation  bordering  the  mound.  A  few  small  fragments 
of  human  bones  lay  on  the  surface  at  this  place,  which,  however,  had  upon  it  no 
midden-debris.  Sounding-rods  and  trial-holes  at  once  came  upon  burials,  and  sub- 


I-'K;.  I!.— Vessel  Xo.  1.     Whitelmll  Place,     (l)iam.  8.8  inches.) 

sequent  digging  indicated  that  the  sand  deposit,  which  was  about  24  feet  square, 
was  crowded  with  burials  extending  from  the  surface  to  a  depth  of  4  feet.  Nine 
of  these  burials  removed  by  us  with  great  care,  having  in  view  the  preservation  of 
the  bones,  proved  to  be  closely  flexed  on  the  left  side  in  four  cases ;  on  the  right 
side  in  three  instances;  while  two  were  aboriginal  disturbances. 

Having  ascertained  that  the  condition  of  the  bones  was  such  as  to  render  them 
unfit  for  preservation,  and  having  failed  to  find  an  artifact  of  any  kind  associated 
with  them,  we  removed  in  part  nine  other  burials,  and  finding  them  almost  entirely 
under  conditions  similar  to  those  of  the  burials  previously  taken  out,  abandoned 

the  search. 

THE  CASTILE  PLACE,  ST.  FRANCIS  COUNTY. 

Just  above  the  landing  at  the  Castile  Place,  on  property  belonging  to  Mr.  W. 
L.  Mcflee,  of  Grand  Junction,  Colo.,  is  a  quadrangular  mound  about  300  feet  by 
350  feet  in  extent,  with  the  upper  surface  somewhat  rolling.  Probably  7.5  feet 
would  be  a  fair  estimate  of  the  average  height  of  the  mound. 


AM)    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS.  2C.7 

It  was  evident  iVoin  tlie  appearance  of  the  surface  that  the  mound  had  long 
been  a  place  of  abode,  for  scattered  about  was  much  debris,  consisting  of  bits  of 
flint,  fragments  of  pottery,  and  small  masses  of  baked  clay,  which,  as  the  surface 
of  the  mound  had  been  under  cultivation,  probably  came  from  fireplaces  broken  by 
the  plow.  With  the  fragmentary  material  on  the  surface  were  found  several  small 
arrowpoints,  a  ''celt"  somewhat  broken,  and  an  earthenware  pipe  of  ordinary  form. 

The  mound,  which  probably  had  increased  in  height  by  stages,  was  composed 
of  loamy  material  with  a  large  admixture  of  ashes  and  much  baked  clay  in  masses, 
perhaps  fireplaces  broken  through  in  digging  graves — for  the  aborigines  had  buried 
where  they  lived. 

Extensive  digging  was  done  by  us  in  this  mound,  resulting  in  the  discovery  of 
one  burial  in  the  southeastern  part  of  it;  of  two  near  the  northeastern  corner;  and 
of  twenty-three  burials  near  together  in  the  central  part  of  the  western  half.  In 
addition,  five  burials  were  found,  widely  apart,  in  a  ridge  which  forms  part  of  a 
field  to  the  westward  of  the  mound. 

The  burials  in  the  mound  proper  were  in  graves,  from  slightly  below  the  sur 
face  to  a  depth  of  4  feet.  It  was  impossible  to  determine  if  the  deeper  graves  had 
been  made  at  a  period  when  the  mound  was  of  the  same  height  that  it  was  at  the 
time  of  our  visit,  as  none  of  them  cut  through  any  stratum  or  fireplace,  though 
probably  other  of  the  deeper  graves  in  the  mound  which  were  not  found  by  us  may 
do  so. 

A  number  of  burials  had  been  cut  through  by  later  graves.  This  condition  in 
several  instances  proved  to  be  unfortunate,  as,  for  example,  Burial  No.  12  (a  well- 
preserved  adult  skeleton,  the  only  one  the  skull  of  which  was  in  a  condition  to 
save),  which  a  later  interment  had  deprived  of  the  bones  of  the  lower  limbs. 

As  a  rule,  the  form  of  burial  was  at  full  length  on  the  back.  The  exceptions, 
excluding  some  burials  which  had  been  greatly  disturbed,  and  the  remains  of  several 
children,  were  as  follows  : 

Burial  No.  5,  adult,  partly  Hexed  on  the  left  side. 

Burial  No.  G,  adult,  the  trunk  lying  on  the  right  side,  the  lower  extremities 
angling  off'  from  it. 

Burial  No.  14,  at  full  length,  face  down,  the  left  arm  brought  up  over  the  head, 
the  forearm  closely  flexed.  A  later  burial  had  removed  from  this  skeleton  the 
bones  of  the  legs  and  feet. 

Burial  No.  23,  adult,  trunk  on  the  back,  the  right  lower  extremity  straight, 
the  left  slightly  tlexed. 

Few  burials  weir  unaccompanied  by  objects  of  any  sort,  most  of  them  having 
pottery  in  association.  Incidentally  it  may  be  said  that  several  skulls  were  found 
crushed  by  vessels  that  had  been  placed  against  them. 

With  the  exception  of  pottery,  which  will  be  described  later,  but  few  objects 
had  been  placed  with  the  dead. 

Burial  No.  3,  the  remains  of  an  adolescent,  which  had  been  somewhat  dis 
turbed,  had  at  the  right  elbow  a  bottle  and.  slightly  scattered,  twelve  tubular  beads 
of  bone,  each  about  an  inch  in  length. 


268  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS.    WHITE, 

Burial  No.  4.  adult,  at  full  length  on  the  back,  in  addition  to  one  vessel,  had, 
at  the  side  of  the  right  leg,  from  the  knee  upward  :  a  "celt"  of  silicious  limestone, 
about  4  inches  in  length;  three  piercing  implements  of  bone,  with  the  articular 
parts  remaining;  a  number  of  mussel-shells,  decayed  and  broken:  a  lot  of  small, 
round  pebbles,  probably  from  a  rattle,  the  remainder  of  which  had  disappeared 
through  decay ;  the  incisor  of  a  beaver,  with  the  root  cut  off. 

Burial  No.  6  had  in  association  a  section  cut  from  a  large  and  thick  mussel- 
shell  (Quadrula  hcros]  in  a  manner  to  leave  part  of  the  valve,  projecting  like  a 
hook.  Though  this  object  has  the  form  of  a  pendant,  it  bears  neither  groove  nor 
perforation.  Its  position  in  connection  with  the  body  was  as  follows  :  near  the 
head  of  the  skeleton  was  an  upright  vessel  having  within  it  another,  also  erect; 
farther  down  was  a  single  upright  vessel,  and  at  the  forearm  was  a  bowl  on  its 
base,  containing  a  vessel  inverted  over  the  shell  ornament. 

Burial  No.  14  had  near  it  an  arrowhead  wrought  from  a  tine  of  deer  antler 
which,  however,  may  have  been  accidentally  present  in  the  midden  debris.  At  the 
skull  was  an  undecorated  bottle,  and  two  bowls,  one  within  the  other. 

Burial  No.  16,  an  adolescent  at  full  length  on  the  back,  had.  at  the  head,  a 
single  vessel,  and  near  the  left  humerus  a  shell  of  the  oyster  type  (Exogyra  costatd], 
a  cretaceous  fossil  having  a  ribbed  back,  the  ribs,  however,  in  this  instance,  having 
been  removed  probably  to  allow  the  shell  to  serve  as  a  spoon. 

A  single  shell  bead  was  found  near  a  burial. 

Apart  from  human  remains  in  the  mound  were  two  piercing  implements  of 
bone,  and  a  small  "celt,"  seemingly  of  sedimentary  rock;  while  on  the  surface  of 
the  adjoining  field,  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  were  gathered  a  number  of 
chisels,  some  wrought  from  flint  pebbles,  some  from  masses  of  silicified  wood  ;  a  few 
Hint  arrowheads;  a  bead  of  bone;  two  disks  made  from  fragments  of  pottery  ves 
sels,  one  with  a  central  perforation,  the  other  about  two-thirds  perforated  centrally. 

Sixty-four  vessels  were  found  by  us  at  the  Castile  Place,  nearly  all  associated 
with  burials.  As  a  rule,  the  pottery  lay  near  the  skulls,  though  there  \vere  excep 
tions  to  this.  At  times  a  single  vessel  lay  with  a  burial,  but  more  often  two  were 
present,  usually  a  bottle  and  a  bowl,  sometimes  one  at  each  side  of  the  skull.  The 
greatest  number  of  vessels  present  with  one  burial  was  seven,  the  deposit  being 
arranged  in  line  in  the  following  manner:  a  large  vessel  upright,  having  within  it, 
also  upright,  a  vessel  within  which  was  a  third  vessel  inverted  over  a  small  one  in 
fragments;  a  vessel  inverted  over  another  one  standing  erect;  a  single  vessel  in  an 
upright  position. 

Although  we  have  given  the  number  of  vessels  found  by  us  at  the  Castile 
Place  as  sixty-four,  this  figure  by  no  means  represents  the  tally  of  those  preserved 
by  us,  many  of  the  vessels  having  been  merely  disintegrating  fragments,  while 
others  had  considerable  parts  missing  and  were  in  other  ways  undesirable. 

One  vessel  is  superior  to  the  others  from  this  place.  This  is  Vessel  No.  37,  a 
bottle  -j.5  inches  in  height,  coated  exteriorly  with  red  pigment  and  having  traces 
of  the  same  color  within  the  neck.  Modeled  in  relief  on  the  bod}-  of  the  bottle  are 
the  head  and  legs  of  a  frog. 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS.    ARKANSAS.  209 

MOUND  ON  TIII-:  BON NEK    PLACE,  ST.   FKANCIS  COUNTY. 

About  one-quartc-r  mile  inland,  in  a  straight  line,  through  partly  cleared 
ground,  from  the  landing  at  the  upper  end  of  the  Bonner  Place,  belonging  tx>  Mr. 
Edward  Bonner,  Sr.,  of  Forrest  City,  Ark.,  one  comes  to  the  house  of  the  tenant 
occupying  that  part  of  the  property.  Immediately  back  of  the  house  is  the  rem 
nant  oi'a  mound  which  has  been  much  reduced  in  height  and  increased  in  diameter 
by  cultivation.  The  height  at  the  time  of  our  visit  was  about  o  feet ;  the  diameter, 
4-")  feet. 

This  mound  has  a  history  as  an  aboriginal  burial  place,  and  fragments  of  human 
bone  were  scattered  over  the  surface  when  we  visited  it.  What  we  considered  to 
be  the  original  mound  was  dug  out  by  us,  and  subsequently  refilled,  as  the  high 
ground  was  required  for  the  use  of  stock  in  periods  of  high  water. 

Human  remains  in  the  last  stage  of  decay  were  present  in  a  number  of  places 
in  the  mound,  including  a  large  deposit  of  long-bones  piled  parallel  to  one  another, 
having  four  skulls  at  the  margin  of  the  pile.  Possibly  other  crania  in  small  frag 
ments  were  included  in  this  deposit. 

No  artifacts  were  found  immediately  with  burials,  but  scattered  throughout  the 
mound  were  several  bowls,  two  small  bottles,  a  human  effigy  figure,  and  an  earthen 
ware  pipe. 

The  ware  of  all  these  is  black,  almost  without  shell  tempering,  and  imperfectly 
fired.  In  consequence,  several  of  the  vessels  were  in  disintegrating  bits,  and  all 
but  one,  a  bottle,  were  very  badly  broken.  No  ornamentation  of  any  kind  was 
present  on  the  earthenware  of  this  mound. 

Vessel  No.  4,  a  human  effigy  bottle,1  found  in  ninety-five  fragments,  since 
cemented  together  (Figs.  4,  5).  lias  an  interesting  arrangement  of  the  head-dress 
and  the  hair,  and  is  represented  as  wearing  a  garment  resembling  an  apron.  The 
tongue  protrudes,  seemingly  ;  or  else  some  object  is  represented  as  held  in  the  mouth. 

The  pipe,  of  a  common  type  in  Arkansas,  has  two  small  projecting  feet  at  the 
base  of  the  bowl,  to  enable  the  pipe  to  remain  upright  when  placed  on  a  level  sur 
face.  Supports  of  this  kind  are  sometimes  prominent  features  on  these  pipes,  as 
they  are  on  the  one  figured  by  us  as  coming  from  the  Rose  Mound  (Fig.  8).  In 
other  cases,  however,  the  supports  are  less  conspicuous,  and  in  some  cases  are 
hardly  more  than  rudimentary. 

CEMETERY  NEAR  BIG  EDDY,  ST.  FRANCIS  COUNTY. 

Big  Eddy,  a  bay  formed  by  the  swirl  of  the  river  in  periods  of  high  water,  is 
almost  surrounded  by  woodland  sloping  upward  to  low  hills  that  at  this  place  nearly 
approach  the  water.  The  territory  for  a  considerable  distance  around  is  owned  by 
Mrs.  Mary  Lee  Dennis,  of  Hot  Springs,  Ark.,  and  is  under  the  management  of  Mr. 
Robert  J.  Rhodes,  of  Whiteville,  Tenn. 

By  following  for  a  short  distance  the  county  road  leading  inland  (another  road 

1  For  many  effigy  bottles  described   and  figured,  see  Gen.  (late.-  P.  Tlmiston's  "Antiquities  of 
Tennessee,"  2d  ed. 


270  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FEANCIS,    WHITE, 


FIG.  4.— Vessel  Xo.  4.     Bimner  I'lace.     (Height  13.1  inches.) 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS. 


Fu;.  ."). --Vessel  Xo.  4.     -Side  view.     Homier  I'iace. 


27:2  ANTIQUITIES   0V   THE   ST.    FRANCIS,   WHITE, 

follows  the  river),  one  reaches  a  mound  -15  feet  in  diameter  of  base  and  about  8 
feet  in  height,  immediately  by  the  roadside. 

This  mound,  of  raw  clay,  probably  the  site  of  the  wigwam  of  the  chief,  from 
which  the  superficial  deposit  of  midden-refuse  has  washed  away,  yielded  nothing  to 
investigation. 

Across  the  road  from  the  mound  begins  a  low  ridge  of  artificial  origin,  which, 
running  westwardly,  borders  a  shallow  ravine  and  then  turning  southwardly  is  cut 
by  the  road  and  ends  a  short  distance  beyond  it. 

This  ridge,  the  level  ground  near  it,  and  various  small  rises  of  the  ground  in 
its  vicinity  (all  of  which  are  still  in  woodland),  as  well  as  a  field  about  200  yards 
NE.  from  the  mound,  for  many  years  have  yielded  pottery  in  amounts  really  sur 
prising,  to  the  efforts  of  inhabitants  and  of  seekers  of  relics  for  the  market,  some  of 
whom,  it  is  said,  devoted  long  periods  of  time  to  the  work.  The  whole  territory  is 
literally  seamed  with  traces  of  digging,  except  the  field  where  the  superficial  evi 
dence  of  search  has  been  obliterated  by  the  plow. 

A  most  careful  examination  was  accorded  by  us  to  all  this  territory,  with  the 
aid  of  sounding-rods  and  by  digging  trial-holes,  but  so  extensive  had  been  the  work 
of  previous  diggers  that  nothing  except  remains  left  by  them  was  found  by  us,  save 
two  burials  in  the  field,  and  a  group  of  interments  at  the  beginning  of  the  ridge, 
just  across  the  road  from  the  mound,  most  of  which  were  at  a  depth  to  defy  the 
efforts  of  the  sounding-rods  of  previous  visitors.  Unfortunately  for  us,  both  in  the 
field  and  in  the  remainder  of  the  cemetery  in  the  woodland,  the  artificial  deposit  of 
loamy  material  and  midden-debris  was  less  deep  and  had  offered  every  opportunity 
to  the  pottery-hunters. 

Twenty-four  burials  which  came  from  the  extremity  of  the  ridge,  and  two 
additional  ones  from  the  field — all  that  wrere  found  by  us — will  be  described  in 
detail,  with  the  general  statement  in  advcince  that  though  the  bones  at  this  place 
were  in  fairly  good  condition,  but  one  skull  was  uncrushed,  and  that  neither  at  this 
place  nor  at  any  other  place  on  the  St.  Francis  was  noted  any  orientation  of  burials. 

Burial  No.  1,  the  skeleton  of  an  adult  (as  are  all  not  otherwise  specified  by  us), 
lay  extended  on  the  back  at  a  depth  of  3  feet  !>  inches,  the  measurement  being 
made  to  the  upper  surface  of  the  burial,  which  is  the  method  practised  by  us  in  all 
our  measurements  of  depths  of  interments.  Above  part  of  this  burial,  but  near  the 
surface,  was  the  site  of  an  aboriginal  fireplace,  marked  by  a  layer  of  baked  clay 
having  a  maximum  thickness  of  6  inches.  This  layer  also  extended  over  parts  of 
other  burials  (Nos.  2  and  3).  It  is  not  our  belief  that  the  fireplace,  which  was  far 
above  the  burials,  had  any  connection  with  them,  but  we  consider  it  to  have  been 
incidental  to  the  dwelling-site.  Fragments  of  burnt  clay  were  present  in  the  soil 
throughout  the  entire  site. 

To  return  to  Burial  No.  1  :  at  the  neck  were  three  tubular  beads  of  shell ;  two 
vessels  at  the  left  shoulder;  two  at  the  left  elbow;  and  one  at  the  right  humerus. 

Burial  No.  2.  at  full  length  on  the  back,  3  feet  8  inches  down.  Two  vessels 
lay  at  the  right  of  the  pelvis. 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS. 


•  Grave  Mo.l.-: 


j\ 
riSUnl/roKen  stratum, 

.J*.tt;~.* , i^-ftmmrucm; 


Burial  No.  3,  extended  on  the  hack.  4  feet  6  inches  down.  Vessels  lay  one  at 
the  left  hand;  one  somewhat  farther  up;  one  near  the  left  shoulder.  At  the  right 
huinerus  were:  a  ''celt"  of  silicious  limestone;  two  bone  implements  with  rounded 
points;  a  flat  Hint  pebble  showing  marks  of  use;  a  Hat  mass,  probably  crystallized 
sandstone ;  a  fragment  of  pottery ;  a  decayed  bit  of  bone  having  belonged  to  a 
lower  animal,  part  of  which  had  been  cut  away;  a  bead  of  bone,  1.75  inches  in 
length  ;  four  small  shell  beads. 

Burials  Nos.  1  and  3  were  interestingly  associated,  showing,  as  they  did, 
distinctly  different  periods  of  interment.  Burial  No.  3  lying  below  a  stratum 
of  clay  which  locally  formed  part  of  the  ridge,  while  Burial  No.  1  had  cut  through 
this  stratum,  so  that  it  is  clear  that  one  burial  had  been  made  before  the  formation 
of  the  stratum,  while  the  other  had 
been  made  subsequently  (Diagram, 
Fig.  G). 

Burial  No.  4,  a  child.  '2  feet 
below  the  surface.  Over  the  pelvis 
was  an  earthenware  vessel,  along 
side  of  which  was  another  one  stand 
ing  upright  (which  is  the  position, 
unless  otherwise  specified,  of  all  ves 
sels  described  by  us  as  coming  from 
this  cemetery,  but  not  necessarilv 
the  case  as  to  vessels  referred  to  by 
us  in  accounts  of  other  places  of 
burial),  resting  on  which  was  a  third 
vessel,  inverted.  Near  the  vessels 
lay  a  bone  pin. 

Burial  No.  5,  a  child,  extended  on  the  back,  had  at  the  left  knee  a  bowl  which 
had  been  covered  with  an  inverted  fragment  of  a  large  vessel ;  at  the  left  side  of 
the  skull  was  a  pot.  At  the  head  and  neck  were  a  few  shell  beads,  some  of  which 
were  small  ocean  shells  (O/ii'ti  litcrata],  ground  for  stringing;  and  three  tubular 
beads  of  sheet-copper,  with  overlapping  edges,  the  longest  1.9  inches  in  length. 
One  of  these  beads,  analyzed  quantitively  by  Dr.  II.  F.  Keller  (see  page  258  of 
this  report),  proved  to  be  of  pure,  native  copper  which  could  not  have  been  obtained 
from  Europeans. 

At  the  right  side  of  the  skull  of  this  burial  was  a  group  of  five  vessels  in  line  : 
a  pot  inverted  over  a  bowl ;  a  pot  inverted  ;  a  bowl  turned  over  a  bottle.  In  addi 
tion  to  all  other  objects  placed  with  this  favored  child  there  lay.  on  the  bottom  of 
the  pot  which  was  covered  by  the  bowl,  a  spoon  carved  from  a  heavy  mussel-shell 
(Lampsilis  purpurata)  having  the  edge  of  the  shell  ground  away,  and  a  series  of 
neatly-made  notches  cut  at  one  end  to  form  a  handle. 

Burial  No.  6  lay  partly  flexed  on  the  left  side,  3  feet  9  inches  down.  Near  the 
skull  was  a  leaf-shaped  point  of  flint,  about  1.5  inches  in  length,  while  back  of  the 


FIG.  0.  —  Plan  of  graves.     Big  F.clcly. 


35  JOURN.  A.   X.  S.   1'HILA.,   VOL.   XIV. 


274  ANTIQUITIES    OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS.    WHITE. 

head  was  a  considerable  quantity  of  ground  oxide  of  iron  having  a  purple  hue.  At 
the  pelvis  were  :  a  bottle,  and  a  bowl  having  within  it  another  bowl  inverted. 

Burial  No.  7,  an  extended  skeleton  of  a  child,  had,  near  the  skull,  a  bottle 
with  a  short  neck,  which  was  covered  neatly  writh  a  small,  inverted  pot,  the  rim  of 
which  rested  on  the  bodv  of  the  bottle,  thus  keeping  the  neck  intact  and  the  interior 
of  the  bottle  free  from  clay.  Near  these  was  a  bowl  turned  over  another  bowl,  which 
was  itself  inverted. 

Burial  No.  8  lay  a  little  more  than  2  feet  below  the  surface,  in  an  extended 
position  so  far  as  it  wrent,  the  upper  part  of  the  thorax  and  the  skull  having  been 
cut  away  by  a  later  burial.  This  burial  (No.  8).  it  should  be  borne  in  mind,  though 
found  without  associated  objects,  had  lost  that  part  with  which  artifacts  usually 
are  found. 

Burial  No.  9,  at  full  length  on  the  back,  3  feet  8  inches  below  the  surface,  had 
at  the  skull  a  bowl  inverted  over  a  bottle.  At  the  left  tibia  were  eight  neatly-made 
projectile  points  of  Hint,  leaf-shaped,  as  are  practically  all  arrowheads  found  along 
St.  Francis  river. 

Burial  No.  10,  a  child,  extended  on  the  back.  3  feet  down,  had  a  bowl  on  one 
side  of  the  head  and  a  bottle  on  the  other  side,  the  opening  covered  with  a  mussel- 
shell  much  decayed. 

Burial  No.  11.  This  burial,  which  had  been  cut  away  from  the  thorax  upward, 
formed  part  of  what  had  been  a  skeleton  extended  on  the  back.  At  the  right  knee 
were  t\vo  vessels. 

Burial  No.  12,  a  young  child.  3.5  feet  down,  had  a  pot  at  the  left  side  of  the 
skull. 

Burial  No.  13,  at  full  length  on  the  back,  42  inches  down,  had  at  the  right  side 
of  the  skull,  but  somewhat  above  it,  five  vessels,  one  of  which,  a  small  pot,  was 
inverted  over  the  opening  of  another  vessel,  while  two  of  the  remaining  three  ves 
sels  had  mussel-shells  in  association.  At  the  left  side  of  the  skull  was  a  sixth  ves 
sel.  Near  the  greater  deposit  of  pottery  was  a  piercing  implement  of  bone. 

Burial  No.  14,  badly  disturbed  by  a  later  burial,  had,  at  the  left  elbow,  an 
earthenware  vessel,  and  near  the  left  foot  a  pipe  of  earthenware,  having  projections 
extending  outwardly  from  the  base  of  its  bowl,  a  type  common  in  Arkansas. 

Burial  No.  15,  an  aboriginal  disturbance,  5  feet  in  depth,  had  a  lot  of  small, 
round  pebbles  at  the  left  hand,  and  a  bowl  at  the  left  of  the  pelvis.  Beneath  the 
bowl  was  an  antler  of  a  deer,  having  two  tines  cut  from  it. 

Burial  No.  16,  a  child,  extended  on  the  back,  somewhat  more  than  3  feet  from 
the  surface,  was  without  artifacts — this  fact  emphasizing  their  almost  uniform 
occurrence  with  burials  in  this  cemetery. 

Burial  No.  17,  a  small  child,  lying  at  a  depth  of  3  feet,  had  a  pot  at  the  right 
of  the  skull. 

Burial  No.  18,  extended  on  the  back,  at  a  depth  of  2.5  feet,  had  at  the  neck  a 
single  shell  bead,  and  at  the  left  hand  and  forearm  a  bottle  and  a  bowl. 

Burial  No.  19,  a  very  young  child,  somewhat  less  than  2  feet  down,  lay  with 


AM)    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS. 


270 


a  sniiill  pot.  over  which,  no  doubt,  the  base  of  another  vessel  had  been  turned, 
though  a  blow  from  our  digger  disarranged  the  fragment  so  that  it  w:is  not  seen  in 
place. 

Burial  No.  20,  extended  on  the  back,  about  3  feet  deep,  had  at  the  right  elbow 
a  pot.  and  farther  up  the  arm  a  bottle.  At  the  skull  was  a  large  bowl. 

Burial  No.  21.  a  child.  At  the  head  was  a  bottle,  near  which  was  a  small  pot 
containing  a  very  diminutive  bottle. 

Burial  No.  22,  a  young  child.  2  feet  down,  with  a  pot  near  the  skull. 

Burial  No.  23.  an  adolescent,  extended  on  the  back,  more  than  4  feet  in  depth, 
had.  at  the  right  side  of  the  head,  a  pot,  and  a  bowl  at  the  right  hmnerus. 

Burial  No.  24,  an  adolescent,  lying  in  the  same  position  as  the  preceding  burial 
and  at  about  the  same  depth.  On  the  right  side  of  the  skull,  which  it  had  crushed, 
lay  a  pot.  and  on  the  left  side  another  pot  having  a  mussel-shell  within  it.  as  had  a 
number  of  other  vessels  at  this  place.  At  the  right  and  left  of  the  cranium,  just 
at  the  ears,  one  on  each  side,  were  ear-plugs  of  shell,  resembling  short,  thick,  blunt 
pins — a  well-known  type. 

Burial  No.  2-~>,  partly  flexed  on  the  right  side,  one  foot  down,  had  a  pot  at  the 
left  shoulder.  This  burial  and  the  succeeding  one  came  from  the  field  we  have 
referred  to,  and  lay  not  far  from  the  surface. 

Burial  No.  20,  a  child,  with  whose  bones  were  a  bottle  having  a  shell  over  the 
opening,  two  bowls,  and  two  pots.  In  one  of  the  pots  was  a  shell  spoon  which 
unluckilv  had  been  badly  broken  by  one  of  our  sounding-rods.  Near  the  skull, 
which  was  crushed,  were  two  ear-plugs  made  from  mussel-shells  (Quadnila  heros). 
Below  the  head  of  each  of  these  ear-plugs  is  a  groove  encircling  the  shank. 

Considering  the  disturbance,  aboriginal  and  recent,  that  had  taken  place  in  the 
cemeterv  near  Big  Eddy,  remarkably  few  objects  were  found  separated  from  human 


FIG.  7.—  Vessel  No.  41.     Big  Eddy.     (Diam.  8  inches.) 


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•   - 


JOURN.  ACAD.  NAT.  SCI.   PHILAD.    2ND  SER-.   VOL.  XIV 


PLATE  IX. 


BIG  EDDY.  VESSEL  NO.   18.    .FULL  SIZE., 


AND   BLACK    RIVERS,   ARKANSAS. 

the  westward  of  it  and  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  mound.  The  mound  was 
formed  by  digging  a  large  trench  on  the  eastern  part  of  the  tongue  of  land  and 
separating  this  tongue  from  the  mainland  on  that  side.  There  are  also  remains  of 
a  trench  at  the  western  end  which  cut  oil'  the  tip  of  the  tongue.  The  other  sides 
of  the  mound  look  out  upon  swamp,  dry  at  the  time  of  our  visit,  which  is  consider 
ably  lower  than  was  the  tongue  of  land  originally. 

The  northern,  eastern,  southern,  and  western  sides  of  the  mound  are  in  length, 
respectively,  about  849  feet,  471  feet,  900  feet,  and  270  feet.  The  eastern  side 
runs  almost  due  north  and  south. 

The  height  of  the  mound  is  diflicult  to  determine.  Its  altitude  on  the  eastern 
side,  taken  from  the  level  of  the  ground  beyond  the  trench,  is  from  3  to  0  feet. 
From  the  other  sides,  however,  the  height  is  much  greater — 1">  feet  or  more  in 
places,  but  this  includes  much  of  the  original  height  of  the  tongue  of  land.  Per 
haps  the  added  part  may  be  judged  from  the  present  height  as  taken  from  the  level 
ground  on  the  eastern  side,  and  this  accretion,  it  is  evident  by  the  nature  of  the 
soil,  slowly  developed  during  a  long  period  of  occupancy.  The  surface  of  the 
mound,  often  to  a  depth  of  •">  feet  and  more,  is  not  the  alluvial  soil  of  the  surround 
ing  territory  and  of  the  lower  parts  of  the  mound,  but  is  rich  black  loam  containing 
midden-debris  and  many  fireplaces  which  sometimes  are  marked  by  great  layers  of 
soil  blackened  by  charcoal,  and  strata  of  clay  burnt  almost  to  the  hardness  of  brick. 

Not  far  from  the  center  of  the  mound  is  a  conical  mound  about  4  feet  high  and 
40  feet  across  the  base,  which  presumably  was  the  site  of  the  chief's  residence. 

The  entire  surface  of  the  great  mound  is  scarred  with  remains  of  holes  made 
by  seekers  after  pottery,  who  have  so  thoroughly  dug  the  burial  places  of  St.  Fran 
cis  river.  It  was  difficult  to  find  an  area  of  even  a  few  square  feet  on  any  part  of 
the  great  mound,  which  did  not  show  traces  of  the  spade. 

Digging  was  done  by  us  mainly  and  most  successfully  in  parts  of  the  great 
upper  surface  of  the  mound,  where  humps  and  rises  above  the  general  level  indicated 
a  more  prolonged  period  of  local  occupancy  than  there  had  been  on  the  flatter  parts, 
though  there  was  no  portion  of  the  mound  in  which  we  dug.  level  or  otherwise, 
where  some  hole  or  holes  did  not  come  upon  human  remains. 

Some  of  the  burials  lay  just  below  the  surface,  though,  as  the  mound  has  been 
under  cultivation,  originally  they  probably  had  been  at  a  greater  depth.  A  few 
other  burials  were  so  much  as  o  feet  below  the  present  surface.  Some  of  these 
deeper  burials  had  been  made  when  the  mound  was  lower  than  it  is  at  present,  as 
unbroken  layers  of  soil,  and  sometimes  fireplaces,  lay  considerably  above  them. 
Some  deep  burials,  however,  were  clearly  traceable  from  the  present  surface  of  the 
mound. 

Incidentally  it  may  be  said  that  though  we  carefully  avoided  digging  where 
superficial  signs  of  the  work  of  others  were  apparent,  we  came  upon  a  number  of 
mutilated  skeletons,  parts  of  which  had  been  dug  out.  and  we  found  also  pottery 
and  bones  which  had  been  pierced  by  sounding-rods,  but  which,  no  doubt,  had  been 
in  too  soft  a  condition  at  the  time  of  contact  to  indicate  their  presence. 


278  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

Twelve  working  days,  with  nine  men  to  dig  and  four  to  supervise,  were  devo 
ted  by  us  to  the  Rose  Mound.  During  this  time  two  hundred  and  seven  burials 
were  found  by  us,  no  fewer  than  seventy-one  of  which  were  of  children  or  of  infants. 

The  form  of  burial  of  some  of  the  interments,  especially  in  the  case  of  children 
and  infants,  was  not  determined  by  us,  but  the  great  majority  of  burials  lay 
extended  on  the  back.  The  following  exceptions  to  this  rule  were  noted  : 

Partly  Hexed  on  the  right  side       .          .          .          .          .          .          .          !•"> 

Partly  flexed  on  the  left  side         .......  7 

Closely  Hexed  on  the  left  side         .......  1 

In  a  squatting  position  ........  4 

Three  burials  were  as  follows  : 

Burial  No.  7">.  an  adult,  had  the  trunk  on  the  back,  the  thighs  somewhat 
everted  and  Hexed,  and  the  legs  flexed,  bringing  the  feet  together. 

Burial  No.  1GG.  a  child,  had  the  trunk  on  the  back,  the  thighs  Hexed  at  right 
angles  upward,  and  the  legs  flexed  on  the  thighs. 

Burial  No.  203,  an  adult,  lay  closely  flexed  and  semirecumbent  on  the  back, 
the  head  considerably  higher  than  the  pelvis. 

The  number  of  vessels  found  by  us,  broken  and  whole,  in  the  Rose  Mound  was 
five  hundred  and  eighty-seven.  Very  many  of  these  were  left  in  place,  their  con 
dition  being  such  as  to  make  removal  practically  impossible,  and  their  quality  of  a 
kind  to  inspire  no  wish  to  add  them  to  our  collection.  Of  the  vessels  taken  from 
the  mound  by  us  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  were  presented  to  Mr.  Wissinger,  the 
owner  of  the  property. 

We  shall  describe  the  more  interesting  vessels  from  this  place  at  the  close  of 
our  account  of  the  Rose  Mound. 

A  considerable  number  of  objects  were  found  apart  from  burials  in  the  Rose 
Mound,  including  some  pottery  vessels.  In  the  case  of  these  latter,  however,  we 
believe  the  separation  of  most  of  them  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  digging,  aborigi 
nal  and  recent,  which  had  taken  place  in  the  mound.  This  applies  also  to  a  num 
ber  of  other  objects  found,  but  not  to  smoking-pipes,  which  in  most  of  the  sites 
along  the  river,  as  well  as  in  the  Rose  Mound,  were  found  away  from  burials,  and 
probably  were  lost  in  the  debris  by  aboriginal  dwellers  on  the  site. 

Among  the  objects  found  apart  from  burials  were  seven  earthenware  pipes, 
five  of  which  are  rudely  made,  and  all  undecorated  with  the  exception  of  one,  which 
has  a  very  irregular  and  crudely  incised  swastika  design.  Two  of  the  seven  pipes 
(one  of  which  is  included  among  those  we  have  described  as  coarsely  made)  were 
found  near  fireplaces  or  kilns  and  bear  no  mark  of  use.  They  are,  moreover,  light 
yellow  in  color,  and  though  fairly  hard,  indicate  by  their  shade  that  the  process  of 
firing  had  not  been  completed.  The  remaining  pipe  of  the  seven  (Fig.  8)  belongs 
to  a  type  before  referred  to  by  us  as  common  on  St.  Francis  river,  and  figured  *  by 
Holmes  as  coming  from  Arkansas,  on  which  two  feet,  or  supports,  project  forward 
from  the  base  of  the  bowl  to  enable  the  pipe  to  maintain  an  erect  position  when 

'  Plate  XXXIII.  (1.  "Aboriginal  Pottery  of  Eastern  U.  S." 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS. 


279 


placed  on  a  level  surface.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  pipes  are  on  sale  at  the 
present  day,  having  precisely  similar  supports  intended  for  the  same  purpose.  The 
pipe  here  .shown  by  us  has  these  supports  well  defined  which  display  flattening 
on  the  under  surface  as  if  through  wear.  Some  Arkansas  pipes  of  this  type, 
however,  show  the  projections  as  mere  knobs,  as  if  conventionalizing  had  begun. 

Likewise  apart   from   burials,   were  found  :    two  earthenware  balls  similar  in 
si/.e  to  objects   used   in   our  game  of  "marbles"';   one  ear-plug  of  earthenware;  a 


Flo.  8. — Pipe  of  earthenware.     Kose  Mound.     (Full  size.) 


number  of  disks  of  pottery,  several  modeled  and  fired,  but  most  of  them  made  from 
fragments  of  earthenware  vessels — the  greater  number  of  the  latter  having  central 
perforations  as  is  usually  the  case  with  these  disks  in  northern  Arkansas  at  least; 
a  number  of  rude  objects  of  earthenware  so  imperfectly  fired  that  many  of  them 
crumbled  into  fragments  on  removal.  These  objects,  which  may  be  described  as 
having  roughly  the  shape  of  a  blunt  cone,  vary  in  height  from  4  to  8  inches  and 
were  invariably  found  apart  from  burials  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  fireplaces 
which  probably  had  served  for  the  preparation  of  pottery. 


280  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

Cones  of  this  type  l  vary  somewhat  in  minor  particulars,  some  having,  and 
some  being  without,  holes  in  the  apices,  and  will  be  referred  to  in  connection  with 
other  mounds  along  the  river. 

These  fireplaces  were  not  characterized  by  the  ordinary  debris  found  near  fires 
devoted  to  culinary  purposes,  but  contained  masses  of  burnt  clay,  of  irregular  shape, 
ranging  in  si/.e  to  double  that  of  a  closed  hand.  Possibly  these  masses  had  served 
in  the  construction  of  ovens  for  firing  pottery,  as  with  these  masses  were  found 
numbers  of  fragments  of  vessels,  which  had  a  new  appearance  and  did  not  seem  to 
have  been  in  use,  but  rather  appeared  to  be  parts  of  vessels  that  had  broken  in  the 
process  of  firing. 

Side  by  side  were  three  objects,  similar  to  one  another,  of  half-fired  clay,  fiat 
as  to  the  base,  with  convex  upper  surface  and  rounded  ends,  much  resembling  cer 
tain  loaves  of  bread  in  shape.  Longitudinally,  on  each  upper  surface,  is  a  groove 
.75  inch  in  width. 

Also  apart  from  burials  were  four  tubular  beads  of  copper ;  one  perforated  cvl- 
inder  of  charred  wood  ;  piercing  implements  of  bone ;  eight  arrowpoints  of  flint, 
seven  leaf-shaped,  one  barbed;  rude  discoidal  stones,  some  made  from  pebbles;  flint 
knives;  chisels  wrought  from  pebbles  of  flint;  pitted  stones;  seven  "celts,''  five  of 
quartzite,  one  of  igneous  rock,  and 'one  of  flint,  ranging  from  2.1  inches  to  4.5 
inches  in  length. 

We  shall  now  turn  to  artifacts  which  were  associated  with  burials. 

Of  the  two  hundred  and  seven  burials  in  the  Rose  Mound  there  were  twenty- 
two  which  had  with  each  of  them,  usually,  but  not  always,  associated  with  a  vessel 
or  vessels  of  earthenware,  a  single  bead  of  shell,  two  beads  of  shell,  or  a  number 
of  shell  beads,  nearly  all  of  which  were  badly  decayed. 

Of  these  twenty-two  burials,  four  were  of  adults  and  eighteen  were  of  children, 
including  infants. 

We  shall  now  describe  in  detail  all  burials  found  by  us  at  the  Rose  Mound 
that  were  accompanied  with  artifacts  other  than  shell  beads  or  vessels  of  earthen 
ware,  but  we  shall  include  in  our  description  beads  of  shell  and  pottery  utensils 
when  they  were  found  with  these  burials  in  connection  with  other  objects. 

Burial  No.  3,  adult,  partly  flexed  on  the  left  side,  had  eighteen  curious  objects 
of  earthenware,  pillar-shaped,  flat  on  what  presumably  are  the  bases,  and  slightly 

1  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  similar  cones  were  in  use  under  like  conditions  in  prehistoric  Europe. 

In  an  article  on  the  excavation  of  stone-age  dwelling  pits  and  cremation -graves  in  the  Hanau 
region,  Prof.  Friedrich  Heiderich  writes — "The  second  dwelling-pit  was  likewise  round,  and  of  about 
the  same  dimensions  as  the  first.  A  definite  fireplace  was  not  recognizable  within  it  [as  there  was  in 
the  first].  There  were  found  a  quantity  of  sherds  of  large  vessels,  quite  like  those  of  the  former  pit, 
but  lying  scattered  throughout.  In  the  center  of  the  pit  a  well  preserved  mealing-stone  lay  overturned. 

Further  there  was  found  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mealing  stone,  a  peculiar  object  of  burnt 

clay,  of  sugar-loaf  form — the  use  of  which  is  problematical.  Its  height  is  16  cm. ;  the  diameter  at  the 
base,  10  cm.  This  object  is  not  perforated  at  the  point,  as  are  similar  ones  which  have  been  found  in 
other  localities.  [Translation] — Korrespondem-Slatt  cler  Deutuchen  Gesellschaft  fur  Anthropoloyie, 
Ethnoloyie  und  Uryeschtclite,  XLI-1-3,  p.  11,  Arehiv  fur  Anthropoloyie,  ^V.  F.,  JB.  IX. 

With  the  text  is  an  illustration  showing  a  cone  of  earthenware  greatly  resembling  some  found  by 
us  on  St.  Francis  river. 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS.    ARKANSAS. 


281 


concave  on  the  upper  ends.      They  were  distributed   in  groups  along  the  body,  and 

were  so  poorly  fired  that  many  of  them  fell  apart  on  removal.      Such  as  were  saved 

range  between  3  and  4  inches  in  length.      One  of  these  objects  is  shown  in  Fig.  9. 

In  the  Rose  Mound  and  in  other  dwelling-sites  along  the  St.  Francis  we  found 

o  o 

objects  similar  to  these  lying  singly,  but  never  associated  with  bones. 

Presumably  this  type  of  object  was  used  as  a  support  for  receptacles  placed  in 
(ires,  to  raise  them  from  the  ground  in  order  to  give  the  fire  full  play  on  the  surface 
of  the  base. 

Doctor  Koch-(irunberg'  figures  and  describes  sup 
ports  almost  exactly  similar  to  these,  except  the  supports 
are  hollow,  as  in  use  among  modern  Indians  of  north 
western  Bra/.il  to  hold  vessels  from  the  ground  while 
cooking  is  going  on. 

We  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Charles  C.  Willonghby  for  the 
information  that  Dr.  W.  C.  Farabee  brought  to  Peabody 
Museum.  Cambridge,  Mass.,  from  his  expedition  among 
Indians  of  the  Upper  Amay.on  region,  clay  standards  1(1 
to  \'2  inches  in  length,  which  were  used  as  supports  for  a 
receptacle  in  which  earthenware'  vessels  were  fired. 

Burial  No.  10,  a  child,  had  ten  vessels,  some  placed 
on.  some  set  within,  others.  Near  the  head  were  two 
shell  ear-plugs  and  three  beads  of  shell. 

Burial  No.  !•">.  in  addition  to  four  vessels  of  earthen 
ware,  had  a  single  shell  bead  at  the  neck,  and  two  rude, 
discoidal  stones,  each  about  o.-">  inches  in  diameter,  made. 
one  from  limestone,  the  other  from  sandstone. 

Burial  No.  17.  an  adult  extended  on  the  back.  bad. 
besides  four  pottery  vessels,  a  ball 
of  hematite  at  the  left  ankle,  and 
two  tubes  of  bone,  badly  broken. 

Burial  No.  19.  a  child  extended  on  the  back,  had  three 
vessels  of  earthenware  ;  a  number  of  shell  beads  at  the  neck, 
of  considerable  si/e  and  evidently  wrought  from  the  columella 
of  a  marine  shell  (Fnlgitr)\  two  ear-plugs  of  shell ;  two 
small.  Hat.  shell  ornaments,  one  triangular  with  one  and 
three  perforations  at  opposite  ends,  respectively,  the  other 
elliptical,  squared  at  the  ends,  each  of  which  was  perforated  ; 
a  circular  ornament  of  shell  with  a  perforation  through  a 

portion  which  projects  at  right  angles  and  another  perforation  through  the  body 
of  the  ornament;  another  circular  ornament  of  shell  with  three  perforations, 
side  by  side,  running  through  the  base  of  a  projecting  part  (Fig.  10).  At  the  left 
of  the  pelvis  was  a  "celt"  of  quart/ate,  3.5  inches  in  length.  Shell  beads  were  at 

"  Zii'ei,  Jahre  unter  den  Indianern."     Vol.  II,  p.  207,  Fig.  1'2">, 


i<;.    !'.      K:tr' 
Witli  I!uri:il  No. 
(  Fu  11  si/.f. 


support. 
HUM-  .Mound. 


Kid.  10. — Oriiitmt'iit  of  s  li  e  I  I  . 
With  liurial  Xo.  lit.  Hi.se 
Mound,  i  Full  size. ) 


3(i  JOUEX.  A.  X.  S.   1'IIILA.,  VOL.   XIV. 


282  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

the  knees,  while  across  the  chest  was  an  object  of  thin  sheet-copper,  10  5  inches  in 
present  length.  This  object  in  shape  resembles  the  head  of  a  lance  with  part  of 
the  point  missing.  There  are  two  perforations,  about  one  inch  apart,  centrally 
placed,  approximately.  The  lower  three  inches  of  this  object  is  riveted  to  the 
remainder.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  remind  those  familiar  with  aboriginal  copper- 
working  that  riveting  of  parts  does  not  imply  repair,  but  rather  that  nuggets  ham 
mered  out  have  been  pieced  together  to  obtain  a  requisite  amount  of  the  sheet 
metal  to  make  the  object  in  view.1 

Burial  No.  21,  a  very  young  child's  skeleton,  having  traces  of  sheet-copper  on 
the  lower  jaw  and  on  two  ribs.     With  this  burial  were  seven  vessels  of  earthenware. 
Burial  No.  23,  a  child,  with  shell  beads  at  the  neck  and  three  bone  beads  on 
the  chest.     With  it  was  a  single  pottery  vessel. 

A  burial  comes  next  in  order  which  was  not  exactly  determined  as  to  the  asso 
ciation  of  accompanying  artifacts.  That  is  to  say,  there  being  several  burials  in 
the  immediate  neighborhood,  we  hesitated  to  attribute  the  articles  found  to  any 
particular  one.  At  all  events  there  lay  together :  ground  red  oxide  of  iron  ;  eight 
vessels  of  earthenware;  four  rude  discoidal  stones;  one  chipped  pebble;  two 
incisors  of  the  beaver. 

Burial  No.  28,  a  child  having  an  ear-plug  made  from  the  penultimate  whorl  of 
the  conch  (Ftilgur  pcrversum)  at  the  right  temporal  bone,  and  two  vessels  of 
earthenware. 

Burial  No.  29,  an  adult  extended  on  the  back,  had  four  earthenware  vessels, 
one  discoidal  stone,  one  pebble,  five  parts  of  tines  of  deer-antlers. 

Burial  No.  38,  a  child,  had  three  earthenware  vessels;  a  rude  disk  of  pottery, 
about  3.5  inches  in  diameter. 

Burial  No.  43,  a  child,  had  one  vessel  of  earthenware,  one  shell  bead,  and  two 
shell  ear-plugs,  each  of  the  last  having  a  single  perforation  near  the  end  worn  back 
of  the  ear,  probably  for  more  secure  attachment  (Fig.  11). 

Burial  No.  46,   a  child,  had  four  earthenware  ves- 
^      sels  and  two  shell  ear-plugs. 

Burial   No.  47,  a  child,  had  five  vessels  of  earthen- 
Jufl^Mfi        ^i       ware;  three  pottery  disks;  two  round  pebbles;  one  Hint 

V     disk  ;  shell  beads  at  the  neck. 

^J  Burial  No.   •">!,  an  adult  extended  on  the  back,  was 

accompanied  with  one  earthenware  vessel  and  one  bone 
bead. 

Burial  No.  -34,  a  child,  had  four  vessels,  and  a 
pipe  of  earthenware  at  the  head.  This  pipe  (and  it 
is  not  the  first  time  we  have  found  a  pipe  with  the 

FIG.  11. — Ear-plugs  of  shell.     With  ,         •    i        r>  i   -i  i      j_i  i       j.i  •  i\     i 

Bunai  NO. 43.  Rose  Mound.  (Full  burial  of    a    child,  though    the  event  is    unusual)   has 

rude,  incised    decoration  and  a  slight  indication  of  an 

animal's  head.     Four  feet  have  been  present  on  the  base  of  the  portion  intended 
'See  "Metal  Work."     Handbook  of  American  Indians. 


JOURN.   ACAD.   NAT.   SCI.   PH1LAD..  2ND  SER.,    VOL.  XIV. 


PLATE  X. 


ROSE  MOUND,  CEREMONIAL  SPEARHEAD  OF  SHEET-COPPER.     (LENGTH.  16.25  INCHES.) 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS. 

to  receive  the  stem,  in  fulfillment  of  the  animal  concept,  but  all  have  disappeared 
through  breakage  (Fig.  1*2). 

Burial  No.  -"iG,  an  adult,  extended  on  back,  had  six  vessels;  near  the  skull, 
shell  beads  and  traces  of  metal  hardly  more  than  carbonate  of  copper. 

Burial  No.  02,  a  child,  partly  flexed  on  the  right  side,  was  accompanied  with 
eight  vessels,  in  one  of  which  was  a  shell  spoon  ;  two  shell  ear-plugs,  spool-shaped, 
both  from  the  left  side  of  the  skull. 

Hurial  No.  78,  an  adult  in  a  squatting  position,  the  knees  turned  somewhat  to 
the  right.  From  the  right  shoulder  to  the  pelvis,  point  downward,  was  an  unique 
object  of  sheet-copper,  doubtless  a  ceremonial  spearhead,  shown  in  Plate  X.  There 
are  single  perforations,  one  at  the  point  and  one  at  the  base  of  the  spearhead.  The 


Flo.  12.— Pipe  of  earthenware.    With  Burial  No.  54.    Rose  Mound.     (Full  size.) 

end  of  the  right  prong  has  disappeared  through  decay.  A  large  part  of  the  left 
prong  had  been  attached  to  the  rest,  as  is  indicated  by  perforations.  Curiously 
enough,  no  earthenware  vessels  were  found  with  the  remains  of  the  person  with 
which  this  interesting  piece  was  deposited. 

Burial  No.  84,  an  adult,  extended  on  the  back:  two  vessels;  a  mass  of  red 
pigment  at  left  shoulder. 

Burial  No.  86,  an  adult,  in  squatting  position  but  somewhat  tilted  backward: 
shell  beads  at  neck,  thighs,  and  ankles ;  four  vessels.  Conforming  to  the  outline 
of  the  left  side  of  the  skull  was  an  oblong  ornament  of  sheet-copper.  9.3  inches  by 
4.1  inches  in  size.  This  object  of  aboriginal  make,  as  the  overlapping  parts  testify, 
lay  directly  on  the  skull,  and  on  the  ornament  as  well  as  on  the  skull  some  hair 
remains.  The  upper  surface  of  the  ornament  (which  is  undecorated)  has  been  cov- 


284  ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FRANCIS.    WHITE, 

ered  with  fabric  and  with  bark.  There  are  two  holes  centrally  placed,  some  dis 
tance  apart,  which  were  for  attachment  by  means  of  a  band,  part  of  which  remains, 
extendim;  longitudinally  on  the  inner  surface  to  the  first  hole,  through  which  it 

./ 

passed,  and  continuing  along  the  upper  surface,  entered  the  second  hole.  Another 
sheet  of  copper,  6.1  inches  by  5.G  inches,  lay  on  the  thorax.  This  sheet  had  been 
attached  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  of  the  ornament  on  the  head,  with  the  excep 
tion  that,  in  place  of  a  band,  two  parallel  cords  had  been  used. 

Burial  No.  90,  an  aboriginal  disturbance  :  three  pottery  vessels,  and  one  drink- 
ing-cup  wrought  from  a  conch-shell  (Fulgur).  Near  the  extremity  of  the  beak  of 
the  shell  is  a  hole  for  suspension. 

Burial  No.  104,  a  child,  the  skull  lying  partly  in  a  bowl  with  which  was  a 
bottle,  was  accompanied  with  two  ear-plugs  of  shell. 

Burial  No.  118,  a  child,  had  ten  vessels;  a  mass  of  red  pigment  over  the 
skull;  a  "celt"  of  dark  green,  silicious  rock,  2.8  inches  in  length,  at  left  shoulder; 
shell  beads. 

Burial  No.  122,  a  child,  extended:  two  vessels;  sixty-six  pebbles  from  the 
size  of  a  rifle-ball  to  that  of  a  fist ;  two  shell  beads  ;  fragments  of  sheet-copper  at 
the  left  side  of  the  jaw  ;  a  decaying  band  of  sheet-copper  fitting  on  the  left  central 
part  of  the  skull. 

Burial  No.  12G,  adult,  partly  flexed  on  the  right  side  :  a  small  earthenware 
pendant  rudely  representing  the  head  of  Jin  animal. 

Burial  No.  127,  a  child,  extended  on  the  back  :  seven  vessels;  shell  beads  at 
neck  ;  three  pebbles  artificially  rounded. 

Burial  No.  136,  a  child  :  two  vessels;  two  ear-plugs;  shell  beads  at  neck. 

Burial  No.  143,  an  adult,  full  length  on  the  back  :  three  vessels;  a  mass  of  red 
pigment  at  the  right  hand,  which  rested  beside  the  thigh. 

Burial  No.  146,  a  very  young  child  with  which  was  a  rudely  hexagonal  section 
of  shell,  l.o  inches  in  maximum  diameter,  which  at  one  time  had  a  single  perfora 
tion  near  the  margin  at  one  side.  This  perforation,  having  broken  through,  has 
been  replaced  by  two  holes  just  below. 

Burial  No.  100,  an  adult,  extended  on  the  back:  three  vessels;  three  bone 
piercing  implements  under  the  back ;  at  feet,  sixteen  leaf-shaped  arrowpoints  of 
Hint,  some  flaked  on  one  side  only. 

Burial  No.  154,  an  adult,  partly  Hexed  on  the  right:  two  vessels;  a  bone 
pin. 

Burial  No.  1-56,  a  child,  extended  on  the  back:  four  vessels;  shell  beads  at 
neck ;  two  ear-plugs  at  the  right  side  of  the  skull  and  one  at  the  left  side. 

Burial  No.  164,  a  child,  extended  on  the  back  but  having  the  right  leg  cross 
ing  the  left  at  the  ankle  :  one  vessel ;  shell  beads  at  neck,  with  small  perforated 
disk  of  shell.  Slightly  apart  from  this  burial,  together,  were  two  disks  of  shell, 
each  having  a  most  interesting  form  of  perforation  for  attachment,  consisting  of  a 
hole  entering  and  emerging  from  the  same  side  of  the  ornament  (Fig.  13). 

Burial  No.  165,  a  child,  extended  on  the  back  :   two  vessels;   a  clay  disk  1.5 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS.    ARKANSAS. 


285 


l-'ni.  Ki.     Ornaments  of  shell.     \Viili  Burial  No.  1(>4. 
Koic  Mound.     I  Full  size.) 


inch    in  diameter.  modeled,  not  cut  from   a    fra-ment  :   another  clay  disk   in   one  of 

the  vessels. 

Burial  No.  109,  a  child,  extended   on   the   hack  :   two  vessels,  in   one  of  which 

was  a  mussel-shell  carved   to  form  a  spoon  ; 

shell  beads  at  the  neck. 

Burial    No.   170.  an   adult,  extended   on 

the   hack,  had  seven  vessels;    two  shell  ear 

plugs  found  (as  these  ear-plugs   usually  are 

found)  one   at  each   ear.  hut  in  this  case  the 

knoh  of  one  of  them  pointed  backward  and 

not   toward    the   front,  the  direction   toward 

which  the  knobs  of  these  ear-plugs  usually 

point.      However,  there  was  evidence  of  disturbance  with  this  burial  to  account  for 

the  disarrangement. 

Burial  No.  17^.  a  child,  extended  on  the  back,  was  accompanied  with  a  single 

vessel,  but  the  burial  was  marked  by  the  presence  of  broken  pottery  and  other  evi 

dence  of  disturbance.      Nearby,  on  bits  of  a  broken  vessel,  were  fragments  of  what 

had  been  a  rude  comb  of  bone.  The 
material  is  badly  affected  by  time  and 
by  moisture.  The  parts  recovered  are 
shown  in  Fig.  14. 

The  discovery  of  this  comb  is  inter 
esting,  inasmuch  as  there  has  been  con 
siderable  discussion  as  to  whether  or  not 
combs  were  in  use  among  aborigines  of 
our  country  before  the  coming  of  Euro 
peans. 

Inasmuch  as  we  found  nothing 
along  St.  Francis  river,  except  this  comb. 
that  could  in  anv  way  be  regarded  as 
showing  intercourse  between  the  aborigi 
nes  and  white  people,  we  believe,  con 
sidering  the  number  of  sites  visited,  the 
amount  of  digging  done  by  ns  in  these 
sites,  and  the  quantity  of  artifacts  found. 
that  this  comb  also  is  prehistoric. 

Incidentally  we  introduce  here  the 


FI«.  M.—  Aboriginal  comb  of  imne.    witii 

Rose  Mound.     (Full  size.) 


NO.  IT--', 


representation  of  ii  comb  (Fig.  15)  kindly 

•  i         ,•,»      -,      ,  n       r»      n 

identified    by  rrot.    r.    A.    Lucas  to    be 

made  probably  from  horn.  This  comb,  which  is  the  only  other  one  ever  found  by 
us  in  all  our  digging,  is  interesting  from  the  fact  that  though  the  shape  is 
undoubtedly  copied  from  a  European  model,  the  decoration  points  to  Indian 
workmanship.  This  comb  was  found  by  us  in  the  mound  on  Murphy  Island,  St. 


286 


ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 


Johns  river,  Fla.,  somewhat  above  Palatka,  and  lay  with  superficial  burial  deposits 
of  glass,  iron,  and  the  like,  which  distinctly  denote  a  post-Columbian  period. 

Burial  No.  173,  a  child:  seven  vessels;  a  chisel  wrought  from  a  pebble,  at 
skull. 

Burial  No.  176.  a  child,  extended  on  the  back  :  a  mass  of  red  oxide  of  iron  at 
the  outer  side  of  the  right  tibia.  We  find  in  our  field  notes  thirteen  vessels  cred 
ited  to  this  burial,  but  as  by  their  numbering  it  is  apparent  the  vessels  were  not 
taken  out  consecutively,  there  may  be  an  error  in  regard  to  the  number,  and  we 
feel  it  would  not  be  wise  to  cite  this  burial  as  a  record.  In  one  of  the  vessels  were 
two  rude,  discoidal  stones. 

Burial  No.  179,  a  young  child:  two  vessels;  two  ear-plugs  of  shell,  lying 
together,  a  little  apart  from  the  skull. 

Burial  No.  180,  a  child,  partly  flexed  on  the  right:  three  vessels;  at  the  neck 
thirty  tubular  beads  of  bone  from  1  to  1.5  inch  in  length. 

Burial  No.  191,  an  adult,  full  length  on  the  back,  had  two  vessels;   a  mass  of 


FIG.  15. — Cumb  of  aboriginal  make  but  of  post-Columbian  period.     Mound  on  Murphy  Island,  Florida.     (Full  size.) 

red  oxide  of  iron,  such  as  is  used  for  pigment,  but  wrought  into  the  form  of  a  cone 
about  5.5  inches  in  height. 

Burial  No.  192,  an  adult,  extended  on  the  back:  six  vessels;  seven  leaf- 
shaped  points  of  Hint  at  the  right  knee  and  one  at  the  right  hand  ;  knife  of  flint 
at  the  right  elbow. 

Burial  No.  203,  an  adult,  closely  flexed  and  semirecumbent  on  the  back,  head 
somewhat  higher  than  the  pelvis  :  one  vessel ;  a  shell  ornament  in  small  fragments. 

Burial  No.  205,  a  child,  full  length  on  the  back:  three  vessels;  three  shell 
beads  at  the  neck  ;  a  shell  gorget  on  the  chest  (Fig.  16).  This  gorget,  shaped  from 
the  body-whorl  of  a  marine  shell  (Fulgur),  belongs  to  a  well-known  type  repre 
senting  the  human  face.  This  type  of  ornament  has  been  found  with  aboriginal 
burials,  in  the  Southern  States  usually,  but  has  been  met  with  as  far  north  as 
Manitoba.1  A  series  of  these  gorgets  is  figured  and  described  in  the  Second  Annual 
Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology.2 

'Henry  Montgomery,  "'  Calf  Mountain'  Mound  in  Manitoba."  Araer.  Anthropologist,  Jan.- 
March,  1910.  Plate  IfL 

2  William  H.  Holmes,  "Art  in  Shell  of  the  Ancient  Americans,"  Plates  LXVII,  LXVIII. 
LXIX. 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS.    ARKANSAS. 


287 


Near  a  burial,  but  not  assuredly  with  it.  was  a  small  undecorated  bottle  con 
taining  twenty-six  hollow  sections  of  delicate  bones,  from  somewhat  more  than  .-> 
inch  to  about  1  inch  in  length.  These  objects  can  hardly  be  considered  beads,  as 
they  have  been  broken  rather  than  cut  apart. 

While  at  work  in  the  Rose  .Mound,  it  was  decided  to  examine  with  the  utmost 
care  all  artifacts  found  with  the  next  fifty  burials,  exercising  special  attention  in 
the  case  of  earthenware  vessels  which,  owing  to  their  commonplace  forms  and  to 
the  paucity  or  to  the  entire  lack  of  decoration  on  them,  or  else  to  their  very  frag- 


Fl«.  10.— CJorget  of  shell.     With  Kurial  Xo.  •_'().•>.     Kose  Mound.     (Full  size.) 

mentary  condition,  otherwise  might  not  have  had  recorded  in  our  notes  the  most 
trifling  points  connected  with  them. 

Accordingly,  those  fifty  burials  first  found  after  this  decision  was  made  (Burials 
Numbers  53  to  102,  inclusive)  were  recorded  with  the  fullest  detail,  and  the  results 
give,  among  other  things,  a  fair  idea  as  to  the  general  character  of  the  pottery  on 
St.  Francis  river,  making  allowances,  of  course,  for  fashion  which  varied  somewhat 
in  the  different  sites. 

The  fifty  burials  in  question  were  as  follows : 


288  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

Adults 31. 

Adolescents       .........       2. 

Children,  including  infants     .          .          .          .          .          .  17. 

The  following  burials  had  no  associated  artifacts : 

Adults .          .        2. 

Children,  including  infants     ......  5. 

One  adult  had  an  artifact  but  no  earthenware. 

Earthenware  vessels  and  other  objects  were  with  the  following  burials  : 

Adults 8. 

Children,  including  infants     ......  3. 

Burials  accompanied  with  earthenware  vessels  only  were  : 

Adults "...  20. 

Adolescents  .........  2. 

Children  including  infants  .....  9. 

The  number  of  earthenware  vessels  found  during  the  unearthing  of  the  fifty 
burials  was  one  hundred  and  forty-nine.  Thirteen  of  these  vessels  were  found 
apart  from  burials,  their  position  being  no  doubt  due  to  aboriginal  disturbance  or 
to  comparatively  recent  digging. 

The  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  vessels  with  burials  had  been  placed  numeri 
cally  with  the  dead  as  follows:  Of  the  eleven  burials  with  which  pottery  and  other 
artifacts  had  been  placed,  one  adult  had  one  vessel;  two  had  two  vessels;  one, 
three  vessels  ;  one,  four  vessels  ;  three,  six  vessels,  each,  respectively.  Two  infants 
had  four  vessels  each  and  one  had  no  fewer  than  eleven  vessels. 

Of  the  thirty-one  burials  which  had  pottery  alone  in  association  :  one  adult 
had  one  vessel;  eight  had  two  vessels;  three  had  three  vessels;  seven  had  four 
vessels;  one  had  seven  vessels,  each,  respectively.  Two  adolescents  had  two  ves 
sels  each.  Of  the  nine  children,  including  infants  :  two  had  one  vessel  and  four 
had  two  vessels;  one  had  three  vessels  ;  one  had  four  vessels;  one  had  five  vessels, 
to  each  respective  burial. 

The  one  hundred  and  forty-nine  vessels  found  during  the   unearthing  of  the 
fifty  burials  were  divided  as  to  form  as  follows: 

Bottles     .  .40. 

Pots  and  bowls     ........         104. 

Other  forms      .........         5. 

Of  the  bottles  twenty-one  were  of  ordinary  forms  and  without  decoration. 
Five  had  trivial  decoration,  such  as  notches  around  the  base  or  at  the  opening ; 
while  fourteen  differed  more  or  less  from  the  general  average  of  bottles,  cither  in 
form  or  in  having  a  uniform  coating  of  red  pigment,  or,  in  one  instance,  red  pigment 
in  bands. 

Thirty  of  the  pots  and  bowls  were  undecorated,  being  even  without  ears,  loop- 
handles,  or  appendages  of  that  kind  ;  while  twelve  had  loop-handles  or  ears,  but 
otherwise  were  entirely  plain.  Thirty-two  of  the  bowls  and  pots  had  only  trivial 


JOURN.   ACAD.   NAT.   SCI.    PH1LAD..  2ND  SER..   VOL.  XIV. 


PLATE  XI 


ROSE  MOUND,  VESSEL  NO.  27!.     (FULL  SIZE.) 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS.    ARKANSAS.  289 

decoration,  such  as  knobs,  incised  lines  around  the  necks,  notched  or  scalloped 
margins,  or  fillets  in  relief  near  the  openings.  Nine  had  trivial  decoration  in  addi 
tion  to  ears,  loop-handles,  and  the  like.  Five  pots  and  howls  had  decoration  of 
a  commonplace  character  on  the  bodies,  such  as  rudely  incised  parallel  lines  or 
course  punctate  markings;  arid  sixteen  vessels  of  the  types  in  question  were  some 
what  removed  from  the  commonplace  by  decoration  with  red  pigment  or  by  having, 
or  baving  had  (for  many  of  the  bowls  of  this  class  were  interred  after  their  decora 
tive  devices  had  been  broken  off  and  lost)  the  projecting  modeled  heads  of  quadru 
peds  or  of  birds,  or  the  heads  and  tails  of  fish,  often  greatly  conventionalized. 

The  live  vessels  of  forms  other  than  bottles,  pots,  and  bowls,  will  be  described 
and  illustrated  in  the  detailed  account  of  the  more  noteworthy  vessels  from  the 
Rose  Mound,  the  numbering  of  the  vessels  included  in  this  analysis  being  175  to 
323,  inclusive. 

Red  pigment  had  been  used  on  twenty-one  of  the  one  hundred  and  forty-nine 
vessels  in  question  :  thirteen  times  as  a  uniform  coating;  five  times  in  bands,  with 
the  ware  for  a  background;  twice  in  conjunction  with  brown  pigment;  and  once 
in  combination  with  white  pigment. 

We  shall  now  return  to  the  pottery  in  general  found  at  the  Rose  Mound. 
Vessels  of  earthenware  lay  with  most  of  the  burials — one  infant,  as  we  have  said, 
having  had  no  fewer  than  eleven. 

The  arrangement  of  the  vessels  was,  in  the  main,  as  they  were  found  else 
where  on  the  river — some  containing  other  vessels,  some  with  inverted  vessels  over 
them. 

Pottery,  as  a  rule,  was  found  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  skulls,  but  such  was 
not  always  the  case. 

We  shall  now  describe  in  detail  the  most  interesting  vessels  from  Rose  Mound. 

Vessel  No.  271  (shown  in  two  positions  in  Plate  XL)  is  a  bowl  of  vellow  ware, 
having  projecting  from  one  side  the  modeled  head  of  a  quadruped,  which  is  a  rather 
striking  piece  of  work  and  considerably  superior  to  most  attempts  of  the  kind 
known  in  this  region.  Opposite  the  head  is  a  Hat  space  which  presumably  takes 
the  place  of  the  tail.  The  legs  of  the  animal  are  indicated  by  rather  rude,  incised 
markings.  On  the  whole,  this  piece  is  an  unusual  one. 

Vessel  No.  252.  This  little  bottle  (Fig.  17),  of  a  known  but  uncommon  type, 
lay  with  the  bones  of  a  child.  The  crescentic  body  recalls  the  head  of  a  war-club 
of  a  type  known  to  our  Indians,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  this  was  copied  in 
pottery  just  as  the  Peruvians  embodied  their  form  of  war-club  in  the  shape  of  some 
of  their  vessels. 

Vessel  No.  177.  This  vessel  (Fig.  18).  a  cup,  may  have  been  used  as  a  recep 
tacle  for  paint,  as  red  pigment  remains  on  one  side  of  the  interior.  It  is  just  as 
likely,  however,  that  the  presence  of  this  coloring  matter  arose  from  accidental 
contact. 

Vessel  No.  350,  a  bottle  of  dark  ware  (Fig.  19),  having  on  the  body  an  incised 
design  based  on  the  swastika.  Around  the  neck  also  is  incised  decoration  (shown 

37  JOURN.  A.   X.  S.   I'HILA.,  VOL.  XIV. 


290  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 


FIG.  17.— Vessel  No.  252.     Rose  Mound.     (About  full  size.) 


FIG.  18. — Vessel  N'o.  177.     Rose  Mound.     (About  full  size.) 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS. 


291 


I'IG.  19.— Vessel  No.  3.10.     Hose  Mound.     (Height  7.2~>  indies.) 


292 


ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE. 


in  diagram  in  Fig.  20)  which  perhaps  represents  a  highly  conventionalized  form  of 
the  serpent. 

Vessel  No.  -364.     A  bowl  of  yellow  ware  (Plate  XII),  coated  with  red  pigment 


FIG.  20. — Vessel  No.  350.     Decoration. 


on  the  outside,  has  by  way  of  decoration  on  the  inside,  a  curious  human  figure  in 
red  pigment,  with  extended  legs  and  upraised  hands  and  arms.  Below  and  on  each 
side  of  this  figure,  also  in  red,  are  stepped  designs,  or  cloud-symbols. 

Vessel  No.  388.     This  bottle  (Fig.  21),  like  the  one  just  described,  is  included 


, 


FIG.  21.— Vessel  Xo.  388.     Rose  Mound.     (Height  6  inches.) 


JOURN.  ACAD.   NAT.  SCI.   PHILAD..  2ND  SER..   VOL.  XIV. 


PLATE  XII. 


ROSE  MOUND,  VESSEL  NO.  564.     (DIAMETER.  13.4  INCHES. 


COCKAYNE,  BOSTON. 


AND    BLACK    RIVKRS,    ARKANSAS. 


293 


among  the  verv  small  number  of  vessels  found  by  us  on  the  St.  Francis  on  which 
incised  decoration  of  even  average  excellence  appears.  The  body  of  the  bottle 
bears  a,  decoration  which  we  consider  to  have  been  derived  from  the  crested  ser- 


KlG.  '22. — Vessel  Xo.  .Vis     Rose  Mound,     i  Full 


pent.      Varieties  of  this  decoration   are   not   uncommon   on   pottery  from  parts  of 
Arkansas  and  of  Alabama. 

Vessel   No.   ~>28.      A  bottle  of  coarse,  yellow  ware,   representing  a  grotesque 
human  figure  (Fig.  22).     There  are  two  perforations  in  each  ear,  through  which 


2D4 


ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,   WHITE, 


possibly   the   bottle  was   suspended.     At  all    events,   the   vessel  does  not  stand 
without  outside  support. 

Vessel  No.  070.  A  bottle  of  yellow  ware,  shown  in  Fig.  A,  Plate  XIII,  has, 
on  the  outside,  in  red  pigment,  a  design  based  upon  the  swastika,  the  symbol  of 
the  four  winds  or  directions.  There  is  red  pigment  interiorly  on  the  neck. 


FIG.  23.— Vessel  Xo.  246.     Rose  Mouud.     (Diarn.  8.5  inches.) 

Vessel  No.  248,  a  bottle  of  yellow  ware  (Fig.  B,  Plate  XIII),  bears  exteriorly 
a  design  in  red  pigment  also  showing  wind-symbols.  In  form  this  bottle  represents 
a  gourd,  possibly  with  part  of  the  blossom  attached. 

Vessel  No.  246.     This  effigy  bottle  (Fig.  23),  graceful  and  well  modeled,  rep- 


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AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS.  295 

resenting  a  fish,  is  of  beautiful,  thin,  hard  ware,  bearing  a  high  polish,  and  in  mod 
eling  and  in  surface  is  a  marked  exception  to  most  of  the  vessels  found  in  the  St. 
Francis  valley. 

Vessel  No.  229.  A  bowl  of  hard,  yellow  ware.  7  inches  in  diameter,  is  of  inter 
est  in  that  it  shows  a  conventionalized  form  of  decoration  based  on  the  animal 
concept.  In  diagram  (Fig.  24)  the  inner  circle  shows  the  rim  of  the  bowl,  outside 
of  which,  on  two  sides,  is  a  pair  of  eyes.  The  fore-legs  and  hind-legs,  joined,  also 
appear  in  relief. 

Vessel    No.    ll)!).      A   bottle  of  dark   ware   (Fig.   25).    having  a   shoulder  or  a 


KIQ.  &i. — Vessel  No.  2->9.     Decoration.     Rose  Mound.     (About  one-third  size.) 

collar-like  addition  below  the  neck,  on  which  are  projections  which  in  a  region 
whose  inhabitants  had  been  more  given  to  careful  work,  presumably  would  have 
been  loop-handles. 

Vessel  No.  280.  In  Plate  XIV  is  shown  one  of  the  well-known  class  of  head 
vessels  which  are  fully  described  and  figured  by  Holmes  in  his  "Aboriginal  Pottery 
of  Eastern  United  States."1 

These  vessels  are  "  found  in  considerable  numbers  in  graves  in  eastern  Arkansas 
and  contiguous  sections  of  other  States,"  and  to  our  knowledge  four  belonging  to 
this  class  have  come  from  the  St.  Francis  valley  :  one  from  the  mound  at  Parkin, 

1  William   H.  Holmes.     20th  An.  Rep.  Bur.  Am.  Ethn.,  p.  96  ct  seq.,  Plates  XXIX,   XXX, 
XXXI,  XXXII,  XLIII. 


290 


ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRA^X1IS,    WHITE, 


now  in  the  Cincinnati  Art  Museum  ;  '  one  from  the  Fortune  Mound,  now  in  Peabody 
Museum,  Cambridge.  Mass..  and  two  found  by  us  in  the  Rose  Mound. 

The  one  now  under  description  came  from  a  grave  that  had  been  disturbed  in 
aboriginal  times,  and  the  vessels  present  with  the  burial  had  been  broken  and  parts 
of  them  presumably  had  been  thrown  out.  At  all  events,  fragments  of  this  head 
vessel,  which  had  been  badly  shattered,  wTere  found  widely  scattered  in  the  ground, 


FlO.  25.— Vessel  No.  469.     Rose  Mound.     (Height  8.75  inches.) 

and  some  parts  we  were  unable  to  recover,  although  long  search  was  made  with  the 
aid  of  a  sieve  and  by  passing  the  soil  through  the  hands  of  a  number  of  men. 
Fortunately  only  such  parts  of  the  vessel  are  missing  as  belong  to  the  back  of  the 
head,  and  to  a  part  of  the  side  of  the  head,  including  the  right  ear.  Almost  none 
of  that  part  of  the  vessel  shown  in  the  plate  is  a  restoration.  The  face  has  had  a 
coating  of  pigment,  evidently  gray  clay,  much  of  which  still  remains  on  it.  The 
back  of  the  head  has  had  a  uniform  coating  of  red  pigment.  At  the  outer  side  of 

1  Gates  P.  Thruston.     "Antiquities  of  Tennessee,"  2<1  ed.,  pp.  !»4,  95. 


JOURN.   ACAD.   NAT.  SCI.    PHILAD..  2ND  SER..   VOL.  XIV. 


PLATE  XV. 


ROSE  MOUND,  VESSEL  NO.  474.     (ABOUT  FULL  SIZE.) 


COCKAYNE.   BOSTON. 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS.  297 

the  right  eye  has  been  an  incised  figure  which  evidently  resembled  the  one  on  the 
smaller  head  vessel  from  the  Rose  Mound  (shown  in  the  next  plate),  but.  unfortu 
nately,  only  the  two  extremities  of  the  figure  appear  on  the  original  part  of  the 
larger  head.  The  reader  will  note  that  a  number  of  holes  arc  represented  in  the 
cartilage  of  the  car.  instead  of  the  great  hole  often  shown  in  the  lobe,  in  which  some 
ornament  usually  is  represented  as  inserted.  These  holes,  as  shown  in  this  head, 
are  generally  present  in  the  head  vessels,  however. 

In  conclusion,  we  would  explain  that  the  representation  of  the  vessel  in  Plate 
XIV  is  slightly  larger  than  the  vessel  itself,  and  this  arose  through  the  need  to  tilt 
the  vessel  slightly  for  the  camera  in  order  to  obtain  a  more  satisfactory  photograph 
for  the  making  of  the  plate. 

Vessel  No.  ")3U.  This  bowl,  having  the  head  and  legs  of  a  frog  modeled  in 
relief  on  the  outside,  is  of  special  interest  only  because  the  head  of  the  frog,  which 
is  hollow,  has  been  filled  with  objects  which  rattle  when  the  vessel  is  shaken. 
Diameter  of  bowl,  5.7  inches. 

Vessel  No.  298,  a  bowl  12.2  inches  in  diameter,  is  of  yellow  ware  and  has  for 
decoration  on  the  inside,  in  red  pigment,  a  swastika,  or  symbol  of  the  four  winds 
or  directions.  On  the  outside,  also  in  red  pigment,  are  three  concentric  circles, 
doubtless  sun  svmbols. 

tf 

Vessel  No.  378.  A  bottle  of  yellow  ware  (Fig.  26),  with  a  well-made,  incised 
decoration,  the  design  based  on  a  swastika.  This  bottle  is  by  far  the  best  example 
of  incised  work  found  by  us  on  St.  Francis  river. 

Vessel  No.  474.  This  vessel,  shown  in  Plate  XV,  is  another  example  of  the 
class  of  head  vessels,  one  of  which  already  has  been  described  and  figured  in  this 
report.  The  vessel  under  description  differs  from  the  one  previously  described  in 
that  it  is  considerably  smaller  and  has  a  coating  of  yellow  pigment  on  the  upper 
part  of  the  face  and  red  pigment  on  the  lower  part.  The  curious  incised  marking, 
parts  of  which  remain  at  the  right  eye  of  the  larger  vessel,  is  present  around  part 
of  the  left  eye  of  this  one.  Presumably  a  short  neck  has  at  one  time  been  present 
on  this  vessel,  but  this  we  have  not  attempted  to  restore.  The  tip  of  the  nose, 
missing  when  the  vessel  was  found,  has  been  replaced,  however.  The  back  of  the 
head  has  a  uniform  coating  of  red  pigment. 

Vessel  No.  458.  A  bottle  representing  a  human  figure.  The  nose  has  been 
slightly  chipped  on  the  upper  part  by  a  blow  of  a  spade.  On  the  back  is  the 
curious  marking  sometimes  seen  on  human  effigy-vessels  of  the  Middle  Mississippi 
region,  which  probably  represents  the  spine.  The  legs,  which  are  shown  with  con 
siderable  detail,  extend  beneath  the  base  of  the  bottle.  This  bottle  is  somewhat 
outside  the  usual  style  in  that  the  opening  is  not  at  the  back  of  the  head,  but  is  in 
the  body  of  the  vessel  in  front  of  the  face  (Fig.  27). 

Vessel  No.  325.  This  bowl  (Fig.  28),  found  with  another  exactly  similar  in 
shape  but  somewhat  larger,  has  four  holes  for  suspension,  and  horizontal  extensions 
on  two  sides  of  the  rim,  probably  conventionalized  fins. 

Vessel  No.  40.     This  vessel,  of  coarse,  yellow  ware,  of  a  fairly  well-known 

38  JOURX.  A.  X.  S.   I'HILA.,  VOL.  XIV. 


298  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS.    WHITE. 


FIG.  2l>.— Vessel  No.  378.     Rose  Mouml.     (Height  S.(i  inches.) 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS. 


299 


F«i.  27.— Vessel  No.  4."iS.     Rose  Mountl.     (Height  7.25  inches.) 


300 


ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 


type,  is  made  up  of  three  compartments,  each  representing  a  pot  with  three  loop- 
handles,  which,  however,  are  decorative  only,  there  being  no  space  for  the  passage 
of  a  cord.  Openings  in  the  compartments  allow  them  to  contain  a  liquid  in  com 
mon.  The  decoration,  consisting  of  parallel,  in 
cised  lines  on  the  bodies  of  two  of  the  compart 
ments,  and  punctate  markings  on  the  body  of  the 
third,  extends  also  on  the  bases  in  the  shape  of 
erratic,  incised  angles  and  curves.  Height,  o 
inches ;  maximum  diameter.  7  inches. 

Vessel  No.  99.  This  vessel  resembles  the  one 
just  described,  with  the  exceptions  that  there  are 
but  two  compartments  ;  that  the  decoration,  rough 
incised  lines,  is  confined  to  the  necks;  that  four 
small  ears  project  laterally  ;  and  that  each  of  the 
two  compartments  is  somewhat  larger  than  the 
individual  compartments  of  the  other  vessel. 

Vessel  No.  566.  This  bottle  (Plate  XVI)  has 
around  the  body  a  decoration  of  alternate  bands  of  red  and  of  light  yellow — 
apparently  tinted  clays.  Around  the  neck  are  stepped  designs,  or  cloud  symbols. 
Vessel  No.  4G.  This  vessel,  shown  in  Fig.  29,  although  of  ordinary  ware,  is 
more  graceful  in  form  than  are  vessels  usually  found  along  the  St.  Francis.  On 
two  opposite  sides  project  heads  of  some  animal  (perhaps  a  raccoon),  not  modeled 


FIG.  28.— Vessel  Xo.  325.     Eose  Mound. 
(I)iani.  6.5  inches.) 


FIG.  29. — Vessel  Xo.  40.     Eose  Mound.     (Diani.  9.1  indies.) 


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JOURN.  ACAD.   NAT.  SCI.   PH1LAD..  2ND  SER..   VOL.  XIV. 


PLATE  XVII. 


. 


ROSE  MOUND,  VESSEL  NO.  562.     (DIAMETER  8.75  INCHES.) 


COCKAYNE,   BOSTON. 


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AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS. 


301 


Via.  30.— Vessel  No.  407.     Rose  Mound.     (I)iam.  8.5  inches.) 


with  sufficient  distinctness  for  positive  identification.      There  is  rude,  incised  deco 
ration  on  the  upper  part  of  the  body. 

Vessel  No.  8-"),  a  bottle  6.2  inches  in  height,  with  a  graceful  body,  oblate  sphe 
roidal,  which,  by  way  of  decoration  below  the  neck,  bears  in  relief  a  symbol  the 
meaning  of  which  is  in  doubt.  A  similar  bottle  is  figured  by  Holmes  '  as  coining 
from  Arkansas. 

Vessel   No.  407,  a  bowl   of  very  ordinary  ware,   having  two  rudely  modeled 
animal    heads  facing   each   other  on 
opposite  sides  (Fig.  30). 

Vessel  No.  404,  a  bowl  with  a 
modeled  animal  head  projecting  up 
ward  on  one  side,  in  which  are  small 
objects  that  rattle  when  shaken,  has, 
on  the  side  opposite  the  head,  a  tail 
curling  upward.  Maximum  diame 
ter  9.7  inches. 

Vessel     No.     502.       This    bowl 
(Plate   XVII),  somewhat   similar  to 
one  from  this  same  mound  in  the  col 
lection    of    Peabody    Museum,    Cam 
bridge,  Mass.,  has  interiorly  an  inter 
esting  decoration   in   red   pigment  on  the  background  of  the  ware,  consisting  of  a 
central  swastika  indicating  the  four  winds,  surrounded  by  three  equidistant  stepped 
designs,  or  cloud  symbols.     The  exterior  of  the  bowl  under  description   is  coated 
with  red  pigment.     The  outer  margin  of  the  opening  is  beaded. 

Vessel  No.  -186,  a  handsome  bottle,  oblate-spheroidal  as  to  the  body,  found  in 
many  fragments  which  since  have  been  carefully  cemented  together.  The  decora 
tion  of  the  body  consists  of  ten  upright  bands  of  pigment  alternately  red  and  white. 
The  base,  which  is  Hat,  and  the  neck  have  solid  coatings  of  red.  There  are  punctate 
markings  around  the  margin  of  the  neck. 

Vessel  No.  185.  This  vessel,  one  of  the  "teapot"  variety  (Plate  XVII 1 1. 
which  is  found  in  the  United  States  only  in  eastern  Arkansas  and  nearby  regions 
(its  center  of  discovery  being  the  eastern  part  of  the  Arkansas  river  valley),  diflers 
from  the  usual  form  of  this  kind  of  vessel  in  that,  instead  of  having  a  knob  at  one 
side  and  a  spout  at  the  other,  the  head  of  an  animal  takes  the  place  of  the  knob, 
and  the  addition  of  four  feet  completes  the  animal  form.  It  has  been  suggested  by 
Professor  Holmes,  who  figures2  a  vessel  of  this  class,  that  the  teapot  vessel  is 
derived  from  the  animal  form,  a  spout  taking  the  place  of  a  tail.  The  decoration 
on  the  vessel  under  description  consists  of  partly  interlocked  scrolls  of  light  pink 
and  of  red,  on  the  yellowr  background  of  the  ware. 

Vessel  No.  115.     This  interesting  vessel  (Fig.  31)  is  a  decided  variant  from 


1  Op.  tit.,  Plate  XIII  f. 
'  Op.  cit.,  Plate  XL  b. 


302  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 


Ki<;.  :;i.— Vessel  Xo.  115.     Rose  Mound.     (Diam.  of  body  8.8  inches.) 


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AND   BLACK    RIVERS.    ARKANSAS.  303 

others  of  the  variety  of  the  ''teapot"  type  having  animal  heads  and  spouts,  in 
that  the  head  (which  is  better  modeled  than  those  of  its  class  usually  are)  looks 
inward.  We  found  teapot  vessels  on  only  three  occasions  on  St.  Francis  river — 
two  in  the  Rose  Mound  and  one  at  the  Forrest  Place,  which  is  almost  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river. 

Vessel  No.  127.  This  howl  (Fig.  A,  Plate  XIX)  shows  a  fish  in  profile  and 
belongs  to  a  type  of  vessel,  common  in  the  Middle  Mississippi  region,  the  St.  Francis 
valley  having  its  full  share.  The  ware  is  yellow  ;  the  exterior  has  a  uniform  coat 
ing  of  red  pigment.  The  interior  has,  by  way  of  decoration,  a  figure  resembling  a 
swastika  with  an  added  arm,  which  may  have  been  introduced  for  the  purpose  of 
filling  space. 

Vessel  No.  G8.  This  little  bowl  (Fig.  B,  Plate  XIX)  is  considerably  above  the 
average  of  the  pottery  of  the  St.  Francis  region,  being  symmetrical  in  form  and 
having  an  interior  coating  of  excellent  red  pigment.  The  body  is  decorated  with 
three  encircling  lines  of  small  nodes,  above  which  is  incised  decoration. 

MOUND  AT  PAKKIX,  CROSS  COUNTY. 

On  the  river  bank,  immedititely  at  the  town  of  Parkin,  is  a  famous  aboriginal 
cemetery  belonging  to  The  Northern  Ohio  Cooperage  and  Lumber  Co.,  of  Parkin, 
Ark. 

About  midway  on  the  navigable  stream  (if  we  include  Little  river),  the  Parkin 
territory  has  for  years  constituted  a  kind  of  march  to  be  raided  by  the  pot-hunters 
of  the  upper  and  of  the  lower  river.  The  principal  diggers  from  above  rested  not 
from  their  labors  until  Parkin  had  been  visited,  while  the  pot-seekers  from  below 
thought  not  of  their  journey  home  until  Parkin  lay  behind  them. 

After  them  came  the  deluge. 

The  Lumber  Company,  which  later  had  aequirc'd  the  property  on  which  the 
cemeterv  is.  and  erected  a  sawmill  nearby,  in  dull  times  when  the  mill  was  closed, 
permitted  its  employes  to  eke  out  a  livelihood  by  digging  for  pots,  and  this  became 
the  avocation  of  many.  Men  were  actually  seen  by  us  at  Parkin  walking  around 
with  sounding-rods  in  their  hands,  as  elsewhere  they  might  carry  canes. 

The  Parkin  Mound,  similar  in  type  to  the  Rose  Mound,  has  a  great  upper  sur 
face,  as  a  rule  Hat,  on  which  are  many  humps  and  rises.  According  to  a  rough 
measurement  the  sides  of  the  mound  are  of  the  following  lengths:  north,  617  feet; 
south,  o2o  feet;  east,  938  feet;  \vest,  860  feet.  It  is  surrounded  on  three  sides  by 
depressions  whence  unquestionably  material  to  make  the  lower  part  of  it  was  taken. 
Subsequently  the  height  of  the  mound  increased  by  the  accumulations  due  to  long 
occupancy.  This  made-ground  we  found  to  have  a  depth  no  greater  than  4.5  feet 
in  the  various  holes  sunk  by  us.  The  height  of  the  mound  above  the  general  level 
probably  is  from  3  to  6  feet,  though  of  course  it  appears  considerably  greater  when 
viewed  from  the  depressions  which  partly  surround  it,  or  from  the  river. 

There  is  a  pond  in  the  level  ground  on  the  northern  side  of  the  mound,  no 
doubt  caused  by  the  removal  of  material  for  its  making. 


304  ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

On  the  western  edge  of  this  great  mound,  on  the  river  bank,  is  a  mound  20 
feet  in  height,  on  which,  doubtless,  dwelt  the  chief  who  ruled  over  the  great  settle 
ment.  The  diameter  of  this  domiciliary  mound  was  not  taken  by  us,  as  the  base 
had  been  greatly  impaired  in  places  by  the  cutting  through  of  a  road,  and  in  other 
parts  by  the  wash  of  the  river. 

There  are  many  accounts  of  discoveries  in  the  Parkin  Mound,  of  earthenware 
of  fantastic  forms,  and  tales  related  by  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  Parkin  descrip 
tive  of  the  pottery  found  there,  show  what  the  Caucasian  imagination  can  do  when 
working  in  conjunction  with  that  of  the  African. 

No  doubt  this  great  site,  in  times  gone  by,  has  yielded  vast  quantities  of  pot 
tery,  but  unquestionably  in  this  site,  as  in  all  the  other  sites  on  St.  Francis  river, 
earthenware  of  novel  designs  formed  a  very  small  proportion  of  what  was  taken 
from  the  place. 

Much  of  the  work  at  Parkin,  as  elsewhere  along  the  St.  Francis,  had  been 
done  by  the  use  of  sounding-rods  and  by  subsequent  digging  of  holes  of  small 
diameter,  down  to  the  pottery  when  it  was  discovered.  As  sounding-rods  are  often 
halted  by  the  baked  clay  of  fire-places,  and  as  rods  sometimes  pass  completely 
through  bones  and  earthenware  vessels  without  meeting  with  sufficient  resistance 
to  indicate  their  presence,  some  vessels  always  remain  in  sites  where  search  has 
depended  largely  on  this  method.  This  fact  explains  why  anything  was  found 
by  us. 

The  great  mound  is  largely  covered  at  the  present  time  by  the  small  houses  of 
employes  of  the  sawmill  and  by  the  gardens  and  enclosures  belonging  to  these 
houses,  so  there  remains  but  comparatively  little  ground  open  to  investigation. 

Nine  and  one-half  hours  digging  by  our  force  of  nine  men,  wherever  an  open 
space  was  found  on  the  mound,  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  nineteen  burials,  none 
more  than  26  inches  from  the  surface. 

Of  these  burials  fifteen  were  of  adults,  three  were  of  adolescents,  and  one  was 
that  of  an  infant. 

All,  with  three  exceptions,  lay  extended  on  the  back. 

One  burial  was  Hexed  on  the  left  side;  another  was  in  a  squatting  position, 
the  trunk  leaning  forward,  bringing  the  chin  down  to  the  pelvis.  The  form  of 
burial  of  the  infant  was  not  determined. 

Of  the  nineteen  burials,  three  had  been  decapitated  by  former  diggers,  while 
in  two  other  cases  skulls  had  been  dug  down  to  and  the  pottery  which  undoubtedly 
was  with  them  had  been  removed. 

There  were  two  aboriginal  disturbances. 

Twenty-five  vessels  of  earthenware  rewarded  our  search,  several  of  which  lay- 
apart  from  burials. 

Of  these  vessels  eleven  are  undecorated  bowls  and  six  are  bottles  which 
are  entirely  plain.  Two  bowls  and  two  bottles  have  shallow  notches  on  the  rim, 
and  one  bottle  (Fig.  32)  has  on  the  body  four  rudely-modeled  human  faces  in  relief, 
having  a  seemingly  undue  development  as  to  the  ears.  Still  another  bottle  has  six 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS. 


305 


knobs  encircling  the  upper  part  of  the  body.  One  bowl  rudely  represents  a  fish  in 
profile,  and.  finally,  one  bowl  has  on  two  sides  conventionalized  heads  of  fish,  which 
are  little  more  than  mere  projections. 

No  more  than  three  vessels  were  found  with  one  burial,  and  all  vessels  were 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  skull,  except  in  one  case,  where  a  bottle  and  two  bowls 
lay  at  the  feet  of  a  skeleton.  This  burial,  however,  was  the  one  in  a  squatting 


FIG.  3'i.— Vessel  No.  14.     Parkin.     (Height  0.7  inches.) 

position,  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  and  presumably  the  feet  alone  were  on 
the  ground  when  the  pottery  was  deposited. 

MOUND  NEAR  TOGO.  CROSS  COUNTY. 

In  a  cultivated  field,  on  property  belonging  to  Mr.  J.  G.  Wood,  of  Togo,  is  a 
mound  somewhat  more  than  a  mile  in  a  westerly  direction  from  that  place.  This 
mound,  at  the  time  of  our  visit,  had  a  small  wooden  building  upon  it.  and  in  the 
past  had  served  as  foundation  for  a  house.  The  remainder  of  the  mound  had  been 

39  JOURN.  A.   X.  S.   1'HILA..  VOL.  XIV. 


30<> 


ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS.    WHITE, 


under  cultivation,  and  presumably  has  been  much  spread,  as  the  cultivated  part  is 
considerably  lower  than  that  upon  which  the  house  had  been. 

The  present  height  of  the  mound  is  5  feet.  The  basal  area  is  very  irregular — 
a  diameter  of  one  hundred  feet  may  be  considered  approximate. 

As  mounds  in  this  region  are  not  supposed  to  be  destroyed  by  investigators, 
our  search  was  confined  to  a  large  number  of  trial-holes,  which  came  upon  five 
burials  :  three  of  children  and  two  of  adults.  Of  the  adults,  one  lay  extended  on 
the  back ;  the  other,  at  full  length  on  the  right  side. 


FIG.  33. — Vessel  Xo.  4.     Togo.     (Height  7  inches.) 

With  one  child  was  a  small  pot  with  loop-handles  ;  writh  another,  a  pot  and  a 
bowl,  both  undecorated.  With  the  remaining  child  was  Vessel  No.  4  (Fig.  33),  a 
bottle  of  compound  form  representing  a  bottle  standing  in  a  bowl.  On  four  sides 
around  the  body,  below  the  base  of  the  neck,  are  human  heads  rudely  modeled  in 
relief. 

With  one  of  the  adult  burials  was  an  undecorated  bowl;  and  alone  in  the 


AND   BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS.  307 

mound  was  a  rnde  pot.      All  earthenware  vessels  with  burials  at  this  place  were  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  skulls. 

Apparently  this  mound  has  lost  many  burials  during  its  cultivation.  More 
over,  a  prominent  trader  in  pottery  is  said  to  have  worked  successfully  at  the  place. 

TlIE    J()NKS    AND    BoRUM    Pl.ACKS,  CROSS    COUNTY. 

About  two  miles  above  Togo,  but  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  are  two 
adjoining  places,  one  belonging  to  Dr.  C.  C.  Borum,  of  Earle,  Ark.,  extending  to 
the  waiter's  edge,  the  other,  the  property  of  Mrs.  J.  W.  Jones,  of  Jamestown,  Ark., 
lying  back  of  the  Borum  Place. 

Passing  through  woods  belonging  to  the  Borum  Place,  one  reaches  the  culti 
vated  ground  belonging  to  the  two  properties,  on  part  of  which  are  many  rises  and 
ridges,  with  a  symmetrical  mound,  8  feet  high  and  50  feet  across  the  base,  centrally 
placed.  Much  of  the  high  ground  belonging  to  these  places  is  artificial,  being  the 
slow  accumulation  of  long  periods  of  aboriginal  occupancy. 

Digging  was  done  by  us  in  a  tentative  way  over  the  principal  high  places 
throughout,  and  in  such  places  as  yielded  returns  we  conducted  work  as  extensive 
as  is  permissible  in  bottom  land  where  mounds  may  not  be  permanently  interfered 
with. 

Burials  were  found  almost  everywhere  in  the  higher  ground,  but  interments 
had  been  made  singly  or  perhaps  two  or  three  near  together,  and  not  in  groups. 

At  this  place  also  traces  of  the  work  of  others  were  met  with,  and  it  was 
evident  that  digging  had  been  carried  on  here  to  a  considerable  extent. 

Forty-eight  burials  were  found  by  us  at  these  places,  of  which  sixteen  were  of 
adults  ;  twenty-five  were  of  infants  or  of  older  children  :  two.  of  adolescents.  Four 
were  disturbances,  aboriginal  or  modern.  One  burial  is  not  particularly  described 
in  our  note-book. 

The  form  of  burial,  when  determined  (with  the  exception  of  that  of  an  adult 
which  was  partly  Hexed  on  the  right  side),  was  at  full  length  on  the  back. 

But  few  artifacts  except  pottery  lay  with  burials.  Under  an  inverted  vessel 
with  the  skeleton  of  an  infant,  was  a  small  arrowhead  of  Hint. 

Burial  No.  17,  an  adult,  had  at  the  skull  two  bottles,  one  of  which  had  a  neck 
which,  broken  in  aboriginal  times,  had  been  neatly  smoothed  around  to  remove  the 
rough  surface  of  the  break.  Across  the  skull  were  fragments  of  sheet-copper,  while 
shell  beads  were  at  the  top  of  the  head  as  if  possibly  they  had  been  connected  with 
the  copper  ornament.  At  both  wrists  were  beads  of  shell. 

An  adult  skeleton  had  a  mass  of  red  clay  lying  at  the  left  wrist. 

The  skeleton  of  a  child  had  at  the  skull  a  bottle  and  a  bowl.  In  the  latter 
vessel  wras  a  rudely  pitted  discoidal  stone. 

Burial  No.  40,  a  child,  which  lay  40  inches  below  the  surface  (as  deep  as  any 
burial  at  the  Jones  and  Borum  places),  had  with  it  a  bottle  and  a  bowl.  Shell 
beads  were  at  the  neck,  with  which  was  a  marine  shell,  a  young  I-'u/gur  perversum, 
perforated  at  the  beak. 


308  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

Shell  beads  of  ordinary  form,  in  addition  to  those  already  noted,  lay  with  two 
other  burials. 

Apart  from  burials  were  :  four  pipes  of  earthenware,  all  coarsely  made  and 
none  presenting  any  distinctive  feature;  a  piercing  implement  of  bone  with  the 
articular  part  remaining;  a  small  dumb-bell  shaped  object  of  earthenware,  probably 
an  ear-plug;  two  spheres  of  clay,  each  about  an  inch  in  diameter,  resembling  our 
"marbles"  and  probably  used  in  a  game,  like  those  found  in  the  stone-graves  of 
Tennessee  ; l  one  small,  imperforate  disk  of  earthenware,  modeled  from  clay  and 
not  shaped  from  a  fragment  of  a  vessel;  a  similar  disk,  only  larger,  and  having  a 
central  hole  ;  a  perforated  disk  wrought  from  a  fragment  of  pottery  ;  a  cone  of  half- 
fired  clay,  found  in  a  fire-place;  two  small  earthenware  columns  similar  to  those 
from  the  mound  on  the  Rose  Place  but  more  thoroughly  fired. 

Ninety-two  vessels  came  from  the  Jones  and  Boruin  places,  all  but  three  or 
four  associated  with  burials  and  as  a  rule  lying  near  the  skulls.  In  three  instances 
skulls  rested  directly  in  large  bowls ;  and  in  one  case  on,  and  partly  in,  a  bowl  that 
was  too  small  to  receive  the  entire  head. 

In  the  cemetery  at  this  place,  which,  like  other  places  of  burial  along  the  St. 
Francis,  contained  so  much  pottery  of  mediocre  interest,  it  was  a  genuine  relief  to 
come  upon  Burial  No.  14,  that  of  a  child,  having  at  the  neck  a  few  spool-shaped 
beads  of  shell ;  at  the  shoulder  a  fine  effigy  vessel  which  will  be  particularly  described 
later  in  this  account,  and  a  small  bowl  coated  with  red  paint  inside  and  out  and 
having  two  holes  on  each  side  for  suspension.  Near  these  vessels,  upright,  were 
two  small  bottles,  one  inverted  in  the  opening  of  the  other. 

The  vessels  of  this  place,  many  of  which  were  not  in  a  condition  to  preserve, 
did  not,  as  a  rule,  present  features  of  interest.  But  four  had  decoration  with  pig 
ment,  in  each  instance  consisting  of  a  uniform  coating  of  red.  Descriptions  of  the 
more  interesting  vessels  from  the  Jones  and  Boruin  places,  follow. 

Vessel  No.  22.  This  fine  human  effigy  figure,  of  yellow  ware  (Plate  XX), 
presumably  has  had  a  coating  of  red  pigment  over  the  entire  surface,  though  much 
of  this  coating  is  now  missing.  The  ears  show  the  same  form  of  piercing  as  do  the 
well-known  head  vessels  which  we  have  already  described.  Efligv  vessels  are  occa 
sionally  found  on  St.  Francis  river,  but  are  not  numerous  there,  though  more  abund 
ant  than  in  the  lower  Mississippi  region.  Vessels  modeled  after  the  human  form 
seem  to  be  most  abundantly  found  in  southern  Missouri  and  in  Tennessee.  In 
describing  the  effigy  figure  from  the  Bonner  Place  reference  has  been  made  to  the 
variety  of  effigy  vessels  figured  in  General  Thruston's  "  Antiquities  of  Tennessee." 
A  number  from  Missouri  are  shown  in  "Archaeology  of  Missouri,"  by  Dr.  Edward 
Evers. 

Vessel  No.  64.  A  bottle  of  inferior,  yellow  ware  (Fig.  34),  having  a  body 
formed  of  three  compartments  connected  interiorly. 

1  Gates  P.  Thruston.     "Antiquities  of  Tennessee,"  2d  ed.,  p.  164. 


JOURN.   ACAD.   NAT.  SCI.   PHILAD..  2ND  SER..   VOL.  XIV. 


PLATE  XX. 


JONES  AND  BORUM   PLACES,  VESSEL  NO.  22.     (HEIGHT.  8.7  INCHES.) 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS. 


309 


MOUNDS  AND  CKMKTKKV  AT  NKKI.KV'S  FKHUV,  CKOSS  COUNTY. 

At  Neeley's  Ferry  is  the  plantation  of  Mr.  Starland  \V.  Wood,  of  Earle,  Ark., 
which  is  known  as  the  Starwood  Place  in  contradistinction  to  that  of  Mr.  ^.  ('<. 
Wood,  of  Togo,  of  whom  we  already  have  had  occasion  to  speak. 

The  Starwood  Place  for  years  has  been  famous  for  the  number  of  antiquities 
found  there,  and  in  consequence  it  has  been  for  an  equal  period  a  Mecca  for  collect 
ors  and  for  dealers  in  aboriginal  pottery,  who  have  been  far  from  idle  while  visiting 
the  place. 

About  eight v  acres  are  said  to  be  under  cultivation  at  the  Starwood  Place, 
much  of  which  consists  of  ridges 
and  of  rising  ground,  including  sev 
eral  irregular  mounds,  all  of  which, 
no  doubt,  had  their  origin  through 
long-continued  aboriginal  occu 
pancy. 

The  principal  mound  at  this 
place,  near  the  river  bank,  is  18 
feet  in  height,  measured  from  the 
road  on  the  west.  The  mound  has 
suffered  to  such  an  extent  by  the 
making  of  this  road  (which  partly 
surrounds  its  base)  and  through 
wash  of  water,  that  a.  statement 
as  to  the  present  diameter  of  the 
mound  would  be  misleading. 

Owing  to  its  use  as  a  place  of 
burial  in  recent  times,  but  little  dig 
ging  in  this  mound  was  attempted 
by  us.  We  found  in  it.  however,  one 
burial  with  shell  beads  at  the  neck 
and  ear-plugs  of  shell  near  the  skull. 

Over  all  the  surface  of  the  culti 
vated  ground  at  the  Starwood  Place  (and  the  entire  place  is  under  cultivation 
except  the  upper  parts  of  two  mounds)  are  fragments  of  bones,  human  and  of  lower 
animals,  and  innumerable  bits  of  pottery  and  other  debris  from  dwelling-sites. 

Evidently'  many  burials  and  their  accompanying  artifacts  have  been  destroyed 
at  this  place  during  years  of  cultivation,  while  the  work  of  curiosity  seekers  was 
too  often  evident  throughout  our  investigation. 

The  very  si/.e  of  this  site  stood  in  the  way  of  a  thorough  search,  for,  as  was 
evident,  the  aborigines  had  lived  over  most  of  it  and  had  buried  beneath  their 
dwellings  and  not  in  any  particular  spot. 

Digging  was  done  by  us  in  all  places  that  seemingly  offered  promise  of  reward 
(except  in  considerable  areas  devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  alfalfa  and  where  build- 


Kl<;.  34.— Vessel  No.  (M.     Jones  Place.     (Height  6.25  inches.) 


310  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

ings  were),  and  burials  were  found  in  all  such  places,  even  in  the  barnyard  and 
under  the  stable,  sometimes  scattered,  sometimes  a  few  together,  in  one  instance 
the  remains  of  four  children,  separate  but  within  the  limits  of  a  single  trial-hole 
somewhat  enlarged. 

At  the  Starwood  Place,  as  elsewhere,  was  noted  the  growth  of  the  site  above 
the  earlier  burials.  For  instance,  the  skeleton  of  an  infant  lay  just  5  feet  below 
the  surface.  Sixteen  inches  above  this  burial  was  a  great  (ire-place  of  burnt  clay, 
the  hard  material  being  somewhat  convex  at  the  under  surface.  Above  this  fire 
place  was  a  thin  stratum  of  clay  and  then  another  fire-place.  Above  this  latter 
fire-place  was  a  stratum  of  clay  surmounted  by  a  layer  of  clay  and  charcoal  com 
bined.  Finally,  there  was  a  thick  stratum  of  clay  extending  to  the  present  surface 
of  the  ground.  All  these  strata  were  unbroken  and  had  their  origin  after  the  time 
of  the  burial. 

It  is  not  at  all  likely  that  the  first  fire-place  above  the  burial  of  the  child  had 
any  connection  with  it,  inasmuch  as  other  burials  on  the  place  were  not  found 
immediately  beneath  the  fire-places,  and  moreover,  the  thickness  of  the  baked  clay 
of  the  fire-place  and  its  extent,  argued  a  more  long-continued  fire  and  a  larger  one 
than  would  have  been  accorded  a  single  burial. 

Presumably  a  large  fire-place  for  culinary  purposes  had  been  made  by  scooping 
out  a  certain  amount  of  soil  (hence  the  convex  lower  surface  of  the  baked  clay), 
and  the  presence  of  the  skeleton  of  the  child  beneath  was  purely  an  accident. 

Ninety-five  interments  were  encountered  by  us  at  the  Starwood  Place,  of  which 
fifty-three  were  of  adults,  thirty-nine  were  of  infants  or  of  older  children,  and  three 
were  of  adolescents.  Included  in  these  burials  were  several  aboriginal  disturbances. 

We  omit  from  the  enumeration  a  number  of  recent  disturbances  where  parts 
of  burials  had  been  cut  to  pieces  by  seekers  after  pottery. 

With  the  exception  of  the  aboriginal  disturbances,  and  of  some  of  the  children's 
burials  which  could  not  be  determined,  all  interments  encountered  by  us  at  the 
Starwood  Place  were  at  full  length  on  the  back  with  two  exceptions,  to  which  we 
shall  refer  later. 

Three  of  the  extended  burials  had  the  legs  crossed  at  the  ankles ;  one,  at  the 
knees ;  one,  the  thighs  crossed  above  the  knees. 

Of  the  two  burials  spoken  of  as  exceptions  to  the  form  prevailing  at  Neeley's 
Ferry,  one  lay  at  full  length,  face  down,  while  the  other  cannot  be  proved  to  be  the 
burial  of  a  human  being,  though  it  seems  to  us  most  probable  that  it  was  so,  and 
hence  we  have  included  it  in  our  list  of  burials  from  this  place. 

In  a  little  heap  were  finely  burnt  bone-dust  and  a  few  small  fragments  of  cal 
cined  bone,  much  smaller  than  such  fragments  left  after  aboriginal  cremation  usually 
are.  If  the  cremation  included  the  entire  skeleton  of  an  adult,  the  work  had  been 
very  thoroughly  performed.  Probably  the  ashes  were  what  was  left  from  the 
incineration  of  a  child.  This  little  pile  of  burnt  bones  lay  partly  covered  with  an 
inverted  bowl,  on  the  base  of  which,  standing  upright,  was  a  bottle.  This  whole 
deposit  lay  at  the  feet  of  a  skeleton. 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS. 


311 


With  the  exception  of  pottery,  objects  placed  with  the  dead  at  this  place  were 
unimportant.  In  one  vessel  were  a  number  of  Hint  chips  and  one  Hint  pebble; 
under  another  vessel  lay  a  small  Hint  arrowhead. 

Burial  No.  13.  in  addition  to  a  bowl  and  a  bottle,  had.  in  a  little  pile,  a  lame 
number  of  pharyngeal  teeth  of  the  fresh-water  drum-fish,  which  Prof.  F.  A.  Lucas 
kindly  identified  for  us. 

At  the  right  of  the  skull  of  Burial  No.  14  was  a  pot  containing  a  number  of 
bones  of  a  small  fish.  Under  the 
right  shoulder  was  a  bottle ;  and 
under  the  right  elbow,  a  bowl  in 
verted  over  one  dumb-bell  shaped 
shell  bead,  a  large  bone  bead,  and 
many  fragments  of  small  dumb-bell 
shaped  objects  of  half-fired  clay. 

With  Burial  No.  31,  an  adult, 
were  at  the  skull,  a  bowl,  a  bottle, 
and  an  earthenware  pipe  (Fig.  35) 
having  hardly  more  than  rudiment 
ary  supports  projecting  from  the 
base  of  its  bowl. 

With   Burial   No.  48,  a  child. 
was  a  marine  shell,  a  young  Fulgnr 
perversum.  perforated  at  the  beak. 
With  eight  burials  were  shell 

beads,  a  few  to  each  burial,  nearly  all  badly  decayed. 
With  two  of  the  burials  having  beads  of  shell,  both 
of  children,  were  in  one  instance,  the  canine  tooth  of  a 
bear,  perforated  for  suspension  at  the  proximal  end  ; 
and  in  the  other  (Burial  No.  98),  a  gorget  of  shell 
shaped  to  resemble  a  turtle  (Fig.  30)  and  having  an 
interesting  perforation  for  attachment,  namely,  where 
the  hole  enters  and  leaves  the  ornament  on  the  same 
side.  We  had  occasion  to  speak  of  this  form  in  con 
nection  with  two  objects  from  the  Rose  Mound. 

Each  of  two  burials  had  an  ear-plug  of  shell.  Pre 
sumably  the  mates  to  these  escaped  our  search  or  had 
been  lost  through  previous  disturbance. 

One    burial   had    a    pair   of    shell    ear-plugs,    and 
two  interments  had   each   a  gorget  of   shell,  decayed 
and  broken   beyond  restoration. 

With  one  burial  was  a  small  bead  of  sheet-metal,  decayed  through  and  through, 
coated  with  carbonate  of  copper,  and  having  bones  near  it,  colored  green  as  if  other 
beads  had  disappeared  leaving  only  this  trace  behind. 


Kid.  .35. — 1'ipe  of  e:irthiMi\v;trr.     With   linml  No.  31.     Neeley's 
Ferry.     (  Full  si/e. ) 


FIG.  30. — Ornament  of  shell,  repre 
senting  ;i  turtle.  With  Hurial  \o. 
98.  Xeeley's  Kerry.  (  Full  size.) 


312  ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

With  the  skeleton  of  an  infant  were  two  ear-plugs  of  earthenware,  and  the 
burial  of  a  child  had  a  chisel  made  from  a  quartz  pebble,  lying  below  two  bowls. 

There  were  found  also,  though  not  in  connection  with  human  remains,  five 
disks  made  from  fragments  of  pottery  vessels,  each  with  a  central  perforation,  and 
one  disk  of  the  same  material  having  two  holes;  a  piercing  implement  of  bone  and 
a  bone  implement  having  a  rounded  point ;  six  bone  piercing  implements  with  the 
articular  parts  remaining;  a  tubular  bead  of  bone;  two  small  arrowheads  of  flint; 
two  ear-plugs  of  pottery,  of  the  type  resembling  a  short,  blunt  pin, — found  sepa 
rately, — one  decorated  as  to  the  upper  surface  of  the  head,  with  numerous  imprints 
of  a  pointed  implement;  a  flat  pebble  neatly  worked  to  form  a  chisel,  the  sides 
originally  curved,  having  been  squared;  three  small  "celts"  respectively  of  quartz, 
silicious  limestone,  and  dark-green  silicious  rock ;  a  pipe  of  earthenware,  coarsely 
modeled,  showing  a  frog  in  relief  (Fig.  37). 


FIG.  37. — I'ipe  of  earthenware.     Xeeley's  Ferry.     (Full  size.) 

There  were  found  also,  in  each  instance  near  a  fireplace,  three  cones  of  half- 
fired  clay  of  a  type  similar  to  that  referred  to  in  connection  with  oLjects  found  by 
us  at  the  Rose  Mound.  One  of  the  cones  from  the  Neeley's  Ferry  site  is  6.5  inches 
in  height  with  a  basal  diameter  of  5  inches.  Extending  downward  from  the  apex 
is  a  circular  hole  2.5  inches  deep  and  somewhat  more  than  half  an  inch  in  diameter. 
The  second  of  these  cones  resembles  the  first,  but  the  third  has  three  holes,  one  on 
top,  like  the  others,  but  with  the  addition  of  two  shallow  ones  on  opposite  sides 
somewhat  below  the  apex. 

One  hundred  and  seventy-live  vessels  of  earthenware,  broken  and  whole,  many 
hopelessly  crushed,  were  found  by  us  at  this  place.  Of  the  vessels  recovered 
seventy-one  were  left  with  Mr.  Wood,  the  owner  of  the  property,  who  is  interested 
in  archaeological  research. 

A  considerable  number  of  burials  at  this  place  were  without  artifacts  of  any 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,   ARKANSAS. 


313 


FIG.  38.— Vessel  No.  61.     Xecley's  Ferry.     (Height  8.5  inches.) 
10  JOURN.  A.  X.  S.  PHILA.,  VOL.  XIV. 


314 


ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE. 


sort ;  others  had  numerous  vessels,  eight  being  found  with  (he  skeleton  of  a  child. 
As  is  usually  the  ease  in  aboriginal  cemeteries,  vessels  lay  near  the  skulls,  but  wrere 
found  exceptionally  at  all  parts  of  the  skeleton,  as  for  instance,  in  the  case  of  the 
skeleton  of  an  adult  extended  on  the  back  (Burial  No.  18).  where  single  vessels  lay 
over  the  left  hand,  the  upper  part  of  the  left  thigh,  the  left  knee,  the  left  ankle, 
and  over  the  feet. 

The  more  interesting  vessels  from  this  place  will  now  be  described  in  detail. 

Vessel  No.  61.  An  effigy  bottle  (Fig.  38)  representing  a  human  figure  having 
the  legs  extending  back  across  the  base  of  the  vessel. 

Vessel  No.  11-").  A  bottle  with  short  and  comparatively  wide  neck  (Fig.  39), 
being,  in  our  opinion,  a  highly  conventionalized  fish-form.  The  tail  and  the  dorsal 
and  ventral  fins  are  indicated,  while  the  details  of  the  head  are  dispensed  with. 
This  omission  of  the  head  from  conventionalized  animal  forms  is  occasionally  found 
along  the  St.  Francis. 


FIG.  39.  —  Vessel  No. 


Xeeley's  Ferry.     (I)iani.  (>.."»  im-hes.) 


Vessel  No.  118.  A  bowl  of  yellow  ware,  with  maximum  diameter  of  10.3 
inches  and  a  height  of  4  inches,  having  by  way  of  decoration  interiorly,  in  red,  a 
cross  of  the  four  directions,  with  spaces  between  the  arms  occupied  by  terraced  designs 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS. 


315 


representing  clouds.  On  the-  upper  part  of  the  outside  of  the  vessel  are  four  cloud 
symbols  similar  to  those  on  the  inside.  Extending  hori/.ontally  from  four  equidist 
ant  points  on  the  rim  are  small  projections  centrally  notched  on  the  margins,  con 
ventionalized  heads  or  tails  of  fish. 


FIG.  40.  — Vessel  Xo.  2.     Xeeley's  Ferry.     ( I >iam.  (i.25  inches.) 

Vessel  No.  2.  This  vessel  (Fig.  40),  representing  a  frog  (a  common  type  in 
the  Middle  Mississippi  region),  is  shown  here  only  because  the  modeling  differs 
from  that  usually  found  on  similar  vessels  from  this  region,  in  that  the  legs  are 
more  massive  and  the  relief  is  higher.  Moreover,  the  legs  do  not  seem  to  have 
been  modeled  separately  and  impressed  upon  the  body  of  the  vessel,  as  is  the  case 
with  so  many  vessels  of  this  kind.  It  is  impossible,  however,  to  determine  just 


FlG.  41.  —  Vessel  Xo.  120.     Xeeley's  Ferry.     (Diam.  5.3  inches.) 


316  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 


FIG.  42.— Vessel  \o.  58.     Xeeley's  Ferry.     (Height  6.7  inches.; 


Fi<i.  43.— Vessel  No.  30.     Neeley's  Ferry.     (Height  6.4  inches.) 


AND   BLACK    RIVERS,   ARKANSAS.  317 

how  the  legs  were  made.      If  they  were  rcpon.^',  as  the  head  is.  the  spaces  inside 
have  been  carefully  filled  and   show  no  hollows,  though  one  is  present  at  the  head. 

Vessel  No.  102.  A  bottle  of  ordinary  dark  ware,  having  a  kind  of  collar  in 
relief  below  the  neck,  and  three  rounded  feet  at  the  base,  forming  a  tripod  support. 
Apparently  these  feet  were  added  after  the  bottle  was  otherwise  complete,  as  holes 
have  been  roughly  knocked  in  the  base  of  the  bottle  where  the  feet  join  the  body 
to  enable  the  feet,  which  are  hollow,  to  share  in  the  holding  capacity  of  the  vessel. 

Vessel  No.  120.  An  interesting  little  bowl  (Fig.  41).  having  on  one  side  an 
animal  head,  and  a  conventionalized  tail  on  the  opposite  side.  Fore  and  hind  legs 
appear  on  the  vessel ;  these  are  connected  on  each  side  by  a  festooned  band  in 
relief,  on  which  are  notches. 

Vessel  No.  -"iS.  A  bottle  of  compound  form  (Fig.  42)  representing  a  bottle 
placed  in  a  bowl  which  rather  rudely  represents  a  frog.  The  ware  is  most  inferior. 

Vessel  No.  30.  A  bottle,  shown  in  Fig.  43,  having  a  neck  leaving  the  bottle 
on  opposite  sides  and  joining  above,  a  type  well  known  in  the  Middle  Mississippi 
region  and  elsewhere.  This  bottle  is  shown  here  not  because  it  presents  any  novel 
feature,  but  for  the  reason  that  it  is  a  good  example  of  the  asymmetry  which  to 
such  a  marked  extent  characterizes  the  vessels  of  the  St.  Francis  region.  We  have 
said  so  much  of  the  "lop-sidedness"  of  these  vessels  and  have  shown  so  few  of  them 
in  this  report  that  it  seemed  to  us  that  an  example  might  reinforce  our  statements 
on  the  subject. 

CATFISH  MOUNDS,  CROSS  COUNTY. 

On  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  on  property  of  Mr.  R.  R.  Rodgers,  of  Smith- 
dale,  Ark.,  is  a  cultivated  field  about  ten  acres  in  extent,  surrounded  by  forest 
except  on  the  river  side.  The  field  is  covered  with  humps  of  artificial  forma 
tion,  the  largest  about  5  feet  in  height  and  75  feet  across  the  base.  A  circular 
depression,  dry  at  the  time  of  our  visit,  is  at  the  northwestern  side  of  the  mound, 
while  a  short  distance  to  the  eastward  is  another  depression,  circular  and  filled  with 
water  when  we  were  there.  Similar  humps  and  pools  occur  in  numbers  in  the  sur 
rounding  woods.  This  place  is  known  as  the  Catfish  Mounds. 

Comparatively  few  signs  of  early  occupancy  were  on  the  surface  of  the  field, 
though  fragments  of  flint  and  bits  of  pottery  were  noticed  here  and  there,  and  the 
burnt  clav  usuallv  present  on  aboriginal  sites  lay  scattered  around.  There  is  little 
historv  of  the  discovery  of  aboriginal  objects  at  this  place,  but  as  few  persons  live 
nearby,  and  as  none  of  these  has  been  there  a  long  time,  it  is  likely  that  former 
diggers  got  their  full  share  without  those  at  present  on  the  spot  having  heard  any 
thing  of  it. 

The  principal  mound  was  as  thoroughly  examined  as  is  permissible  in  a  region 
subject  to  overflow,  where  mounds  are  a  valuable  asset,  nine  trial-holes  having  been 
put  down  and  all  subsequently  greatly  enlarged. 

Two  burials  were  found,  adults  at  full  length  on  the  back.  With  them  were 
four  pottery  vessels,  three  of  ordinary  shape  and  undecorated,  the  fourth  a  bottle 
standing  on  a  tripod  support. 


318  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

Various  other  humps  in  the  field  were  examined,  as  were  a  number  of  others 
nearby  in  the  woods.  But  two  burials  were  found  :  that  of  a  child  and  indications 
of  a  full-length  burial  much  decayed.  With  these  were  two  undecorated  vessels, 
and  two  other  vessels  also  without  decoration  were  found  apart  from  bones. 

It  is  our  belief  that  the  field,  which  is  a  comparatively  small  one,  has  been 
almost  deprived  of  relics  by  former  diggers  and  by  long-continued  cultivation. 

A  part  of  a  day  spent  by  us  among  humps  and  mounds  in  woods  some  distance 
back  of  the  Catfish  Mounds  was  without  success. 

MOUNDS  AHOVE  TURKEY  ISLAND,  CROSS  COUNTY. 

On  the  eastern  side  of  the  river,  about  200  yards  above  Turkey  Island,  in 
woods,  is  a  group  of  low,  irregular  mounds  and  rises,  beginning  immediately  on  the 
river's  bank  and  extending  a  short  distance  inland.  Our  estimate  was  that  the  site 
covered  about  seven  acres. 

These  various  rises  of  the  ground,  all  artificial  as  their  composition  testified, 
had  been  subjected  to  the  usual  onslaught  from  seekers  after  pottery  in  former 
years,  and  in  consequence  were  pitted  in  every  direction.  The  elevation  farthest 
up  stream  (the  most  northerly  of  the  various  rises)  was  on  ground  sloping  toward 
the  water,  so  that,  on  the  river  side,  the  mound  appeared  much  higher  than  the 
artificial  part  of  it  really  was.  A  measurement  taken  when  the  mound  was  in 
course  of  total  demolition  by  us,  from  the  summit  to  the  base,  showed  the  artificial 
elevation  to  be  5  feet  in  height.  The  diameter  of  the  circular  base  was  about  35 
feet.  This  was  the  most  symmetrical  mound  on  the  site. 

Two  days  with  nine  men  to  dig  were  devoted  by  us  to  this  mound.  During 
this  time  forty-two  burials  were  encountered,  as  follows : 

Adults 25 

Adolescents          .......       3 

Children  .  12 

Not  determined    .......       2 

Of  the  undetermined  burials,  one  consisted  of  small  fragments  of  bone  sur 
rounded  by  the  roots  of  a  large  tree,  which  apparently  had  absoibed  the  bony 
material  to  a  large  extent.  Presumably,  however,  the  burial  was  that  of  a  child. 

Of  the  other  undetermined  burial  particulars  are  wanting  in  our  notes. 

With  the  exception  of  remains  of  small  children,  whose  form  of  burial  was  not 
dcterminable,  all  burials  but  one  were  extended  on  the  back.  This  exception, 
Burial  No.  28,  consisted  of  calcined  fragments  of  human  bones,  evidently  adult, 
deposited  in  a  mass  11  inches  by  14  inches  by  5  inches  thick.  A  bowl  had  been 
placed  with  this  burial. 

Included  among  the  adult  burials  are  two  aboriginal  disturbances  and  three 
recent  disturbances.  Recent  disturbances  at  this  place  consisted  of  beheaded  skele 
tons  where  former  visitors,  having  reached  the  skull  or  the  accompanying  pottery 
by  the  aid  of  sounding-rods,  had  dug  down  to  remove  the  earthenware. 


AND   BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS.  319 

During  the  digging  were  found,  apart  from  burials:  a  canine  tcoth  of  a  bear, 
perforated  for  suspension;  a  small  "  celt ";  two  mussel-shell  hoes,  one  Quadrnla 
J/i-ros.  tlie  other  somewhat  hroken  ;  two  piercing  iinplenients  of  bone;  an  object 
about  3  inches  long  made  from  half  of  a  hollow  bone,  probably  of  a  bird;  three 
of  the  pillar-shaped  supports  of  pottery,  similar  to  ones  found  elsewhere  along  the 
river. 

Exclusive  of  pottery  there  were  with  burials  :  fragments  of  sheet-copper  in 
three  instances  (that  with  Burial  No.  35,  analy/.ed  by  Dr.  H.  F.  Keller,  proving,  as 
we  have  stated  elsewhere,  to  be  a  purely  aboriginal  product);  three  antler-points 
found  together;  two  shell  beads;  three  shell  beads  and  two  shell  ear-plugs ;  the 
scapula  of  a  Virginia  deer,  perforated  at  the  side  and  at  the  end  in  a  manner  to 
make  the  holes  meet  at  right  angles. 

Sixty-three  earthenware  vessels  came  from  this  mound,  four  being  the  greatest 
number  with  any  one  burial.  Red  pigment  had  been  used  on  but  one  vessel,  a 
bowl  having  a  uniform  coating  inside  and  out. 

The  general  character  of  the  vessels  was  the  same  as  that  commonly  found  on 
the  St.  Francis,  being  as  a  rule  without  decoration.  One  bottle,  originally  mounted 
on  a  tripod,  showed  where  the  legs  having  broken,  the  base  of  the  vessel  had  been 
smoothed  to  allow  its  continued  use.  A  small  bottle,  also  with  tripod  support,  had 
been  intended  to  have  a  spherical  body,  which,  however,  was  flattened  on  one  side 
as  if  the  vessel,  while  still  in  a  plastic  state,  had  been  placed  on  its  side  in  a  way 
to  impair  its  roundness  of  outline,  and  in  that  condition  had  been  fired. 

Somewhat  more  than  three  additional  days  were  devoted  to  the  remainder  of 
our  digging  near  Turkey  Island. 

There  seemed  to  have  been  no  general  place  of  burial  at  the  aboriginal  settle 
ment  other  than  the  mound  we  have  described.  Burials  had  been  scattered  and 
were  comparatively  few,  even  making  allowance  for  those  which  had  been  disturbed 
before  our  coming. 

Apart  from  the  mound,  fifty-two  burials  were  encountered,  as  follows: 
Adults  .  I'l 

Adolescents       ....  .  4 

Children,  including  infants     ...  -•> 

Not  determined          ......  2 

Of  the  last  two  burials  one  had  been  almost  absorbed  by  the  roots  of  a  large 
tree  and  the  other  was  a  deposit  of  calcined  bones,  about  1  foot  in  diameter  and  3 
inches  thick.  The  bones  had  been  so  reduced  by  the  action  of  fire  that  it  was  not 
possible  to  say  with  certainty  if  they  were  human  or  not,  but  as  deposits  of  this 
kind  in  aboriginal  sites  almost  invariably  are  of  human  bones,  we  have  included 
this  one  in  our  enumeration. 

The  form  of  burial  was  at  full  length  on  the  back,  with  the  possible  exception 
of  remains  of  several  infants,  as  to  which  we  were  unable  to  determine,  and  the 
remains  of  an  older  child  and  of  an  adolescent,  both  of  which  burials  lay  flexed  to 


320 


ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 


the  right.  Two  other  burials,  namely,  that  in  the  roots  of  the  tree  and  the  calcined 
deposit,  of  course,  are  excepted  also.  The  deepest  burial  among  those  outside  the 
mound  was  somewhat  more  than  4  feet  down,  but  the  burial  originally  had  not 
been  of  this  depth,  as  it  lay  beneath  unbroken  strata  which  had  formed  after  the 
time  of  the  burial. 

Lying  apart  from  burials  in  the  various  sites  outside  the  mound  were  :  a  per 
forated  disk  made  from  a  fragment  of  a  pottery  vessel;  two  chisels  wrought  from 
pebbles  of  Hint ;  a  small  "celt"  of  disintegrating  sandstone ;  a  discoidal  stone;  a 
cone  of  half-fired  clay,  6  inches  in  height  and  4.5  inches  in  basal  diameter,  having 
two  holes  opposite  each  other  about  two  inches  above  the  base ;  an  ellipsoidal 
object  of  earthenware  with  a  shallow  groove  around  the  middle,  slightly  ridged 
longitudinally,  3.75  inches  long,  2.5  inches  maximum  diameter.  Objects  much 
resembling  this  one  are  figured  by  Professor  Holmes1  as  having  been  for  use  in 
slings  among  California  aborigines. 

There  were  also  found  singly,  in  the  various  sites,  four  pipes  of  earthenware, 
one  of  which  is  shown  in  Fig.  44. 


FIG.  44. —  I'ipe  of  earthenware.     Mounds  near  Turkey  Island.     (Full  size.) 

Apart  from  any  burial  was  an  earthenware  pot  containing  seventeen  decaying 
mussel-shells,  arranged  side  by  side  on  edge,  five  of  which  had  been  perforated  for 
use  as  hoes.     Other  hoes  and  mussel-shells  were  found  during  the  digging. 
The  following  burials  had  accompanying  artifacts  other  than  pottery  : 
Burial  No.  69,  a  child,  had  a  shell  gorget  (Fig.  45)  of  the  type  representing 
a  human  face,  and  somewhat  similar  to  the  one  already  described  and  figured  in  the 
account  of  the  Rose  Mound.     This  gorget  lay  on  the  right  side  of  the  thorax,  the 
engraved  side  down.     A  bowl  also  had  been  placed  with  this  burial. 

1  William  H.  Holmes.     Report  U.  S.  Nat.  Museum  for  1900,  Plate  XXVI. 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS. 


321 


Burial  No.  72,  a  child,  hud  two  vessels  at  the  head  and  two  shell  beads  at  the 
neck. 

Burial  No.  77,  an  adolescent,  had  a  bowl  at  the  left  side  of  the  skull  with  a 
bottle  lying  on  its  side  upon  it.  At  the  neck  were  a  number  of  shell  beads;  at  each 
ear  was  an  ear-plug  of  shell  of  the  blunt  pin  type,  the  head  directed  to  the  front. 


FIG.  4">. — Gorget  of  shell.     With  Burial  No.  (S9.     Mounds  near  Turkey  Island,     (l-'ull  size.) 

Burial  No.  82.  an  adult,  had  two  masses  of  red  pigment,  oxide  of  iron,  one  at 
the  right  side  of  the  pelvis,  over  the  lower  part  of  the  forearm  ;  the  other  on  the 
lower  part  of  the  humerus,  which,  together  with  the  radius  and  the  ulna,  was  dyed 
a  brilliant  red.  Slightly  beyond  the  skull  were  a  bottle  and  a  bowl,  having  between 
them  a  mass  of  scarlet  pigment. 

Burial  No.  86,  a  child,  lay  with  two  bowls  near  the  skull.  On  the  chest  was 
a  shell  gorget  in  many  disintegrating  fragments. 

Burial  No.  88.  an  adult,  with  two  bottles  near  the  head,  had  a  number  of  shell 
beads  at  the  neck  and  two  at  the  pelvis. 

Crossing  and  fitting  to  the  curve  of  the  upper  part  of  the  frontal  bone  was  a 
band  of  copper  about  7  inches  long  and  .8  inch  in  maximum  width,  tapering  some 
what  toward  the  extremities.  In  one  place  the  sheet-copper  forming  this  band  had 

11  JOURX.  A.  X.  S.   I'HILA.,  VOL.  XIV. 


322 


ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FKANCIS,    WHITE, 


been  joined  together  probably  by  tying,  as  four  holes  are  present,  but  no  rivets.  On 
the  inner  surface  of  the  sheet-metal  ornament  was  a  band  of  split  cane,  much  of 
which  still  remains.  This  cane  formed  part  of  the  ornament,  as  is  shown  bv  the 
fact  that  single  perforations  at  each  end  of  the  ornament,  no  doubt  for  attachment, 
pass  through  the  cane  also.  On  the  upper  part  of  the  ornament  is  matting  which, 
no  doubt,  is  part  of  the  covering  of  the  entire  burial,  locally  preserved  by  the  salts 
of  copper.  The  skull  below  this  ornament  is  colored  green. 

Burial  No.  90,  an  infant,  had  beads  at  the  neck,  and  a  shell  gorget  representing 
the  human  face,  but  inferior  to  the  one  figured  previously  as  coming  from  this  place. 

Exclusive  of  the  pottery  taken  from  the  mound,  eighty-two  vessels  of  earthen 
ware  came  from  the  sites  near  Turkey  Island.  Among  these  are  four  vessels 
formerly  having  had  tripod  supports,  but  from  which  these  supports  having  been 
broken  off,  the  area  of  contact  with  the  body  of  the  vessel  had  been  carefully 
smoothed. 


FIG.  46. — With  Burial  No.  94  (an  infant).     Mounds  near  Turkey  Island.     (Full  size.) 

Six  of  the  eighty-two  vessels  bore  decoration  with  red  pigment.  Three  of 
these,  with  a  uniform  coating  of  red,  were  respectively  a  bowl  from  which  an  animal 
head  had  been  broken,  but  on  which  the  tail  remained,  and  two  wholly  asymmetri- 


JOURN.   ACAD.    NAT.   SCI.    PHILAD..  2ND  SER..    VOL.  XIV. 


PLATE  XXI. 


MOUNDS  NEAR  TURKEY  ISLAND,  VESSEL  NO.    125.     (HEIGHT.  7.2  INCHES.) 


UNP 


or  THE 
UNIVERSITY 

OF 


JOURN.   ACAD.   NAT.  SCI.    PHILAD..  2ND  SER.,    VOL.  XIV. 


PLATE  XXII. 


r 

• 


MOUNDS  NEAR  TURKEY  ISLAND,  VESSEL  NO.    117.     (HEIGHT.  7.7  INCHES.) 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS. 


323 


c:il  bottles.  The  three  remaining  vessels  had  designs  in  red.  Two  of  these  will  be 
particularly  described,  and  figured  in  the  plates,  in  connection  with  this  place;  the 
third,  a  rough,  heavy  bottle  with  a  circular,  flaring  base,  has  the  paint  scaled  from 
it  to  such  an  extent  that  the  design  is  greatly  impaired. 

The  following  burials  present  features  of  interest  in  connection  with  the 
arrangement  of  vessels. 

Burial  No.  -V2,  an  adult  skeleton,  had  near  the  head  an  upright  bottle,  over  the 
neck  of  which  a  bowl  had  been  turned  so  that  the  neck  was  entirely  covered,  the 
rim  of  the  bowl  resting  on  the  body  of  the  bottle.  Another  bowl  was  nearby. 

Burial  No.  71,  an  adolescent,  had  an  inverted  bowl  partly  covering  the  skull 
and  giving  to  the  burial  the  appearance  of  a  certain  form  of  urn-burial.     Upon 
examination,  however,  it  became  apparent  that  this  position  of  the  vessel  was  inci 
dental  and  that  the  bowl  had  been  inver 
ted  to  cover  a  smaller  bowl   which  had 
been  placed  upon  the  skull. 

Burial  No.  94,  a  very  young  infant, 
had  near  it  a  small  bowl  in  which,  up 
right,  was  a  little  effigy  bottle.  The 
bowl  and  the  bottle  are  shown  in  Fig. 
46,  in  which,  however,  the  bowl  has  been 
tilted  slightly  from  the  upright  position 
in  which  it  was  found,  in  order  to  give  a 
better  view  of  the  bottle. 

We  shall  now  describe  certain  ves 
sels  from  the  aboriginal  site  near  Turkey 
Island. 

Vessel  No.  !'>:>.  This  bottle  (Plate 
XXI)  has  four  equidistant  bands  of  red 
pigment  running  vertically  on  the  body. 
The  background  is  a  coating  of  gray 
clay.  Around  the  neck  are  two  circles 
of  red  pigment. 

Vessel  No.  15.  A  bottle  of  coarse 
ware  (Fig.  47),  of  a  fairly  common  type 
in  the  region,  having  a  collar  modeled 
around  the  neck,  and  a  tripod  support. 

Vessel  No.  84.  A  clumsily  made, 
asymmetrical  bottle,  8  inches  in  height, 
having  a  body  formed  from  three  lobes, 

and  an   annular,   projecting  base  Or  foot.  Fltl-  47,-Vessel  No   IS      Mm.mU  near  Turkey  Island. 

1       •'  (Height   10  inches.) 

Vessel  No.  117.     This  bottle  (Plate 

XXII),  of  yellow  ware,  has  had,  as  a  background  for  a  design  in  red  pigment,  a 
coating  of  light  gray  clay.     The  design  consists  of  a  four-pointed  star,  the  extremi- 


324  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

ties  directed  downward  from  the  base  of  the  neck,  and  a  similar  figure  with  the 
arms  pointing  upward  from  the  base  of  the  vessel.  Around  the  body  is  a  design 
seemingly  based  on  the  swastika,  four  times  shown,  with  a  modification  in  one  inst 
ance  where  the  figure  has  five  arms,  this  fifth  arm  connecting  with  one  of  the  points 
of  the  upper  star.  The  decoration  on  the  neck  seems  to  consist  of  a  zig/.ag  of  gray 
pigment  running  between  series  of  triangles  in  red. 

MOUNDS  NEAK  LOG  LANDING,  CROSS  COUNTY. 

Near  the  river  bank,  at  a  log  landing,  the  name  of  which,  if  it  has  one,  we  did 
not  learn,  on  the  western  side  of  the  river,  are  three  low  mounds,  one  of  which  is 
crossed  by  teams  hauling  timber,  and  another  is  parti  v  traversed  by  the  road.  In 
these  two  mounds  but  little  digging  was  done,  owing  to  our  wish  to  avoid  injuring 
roads  over  which  heavy  loads  must  pass. 

Digging  in  one  of  the  mounds  and  in  part  of  another  resulted  in  the  discovery 
of  four  burials  of  adults,  all  extended  on  the  back.  With  each  of  these  burials, 
near  the  skull,  were  a  bottle  and  a  bowl,  all  undecorated  with  the  exception  of  one 
bowl  which  had  loop-handles,  and  on  the  body  rude  imprints  probably  of  a  section 
of  a  reed. 

FORTUNE  MOUNDS,  CHOSS  COUNTY. l 

The  Fortune  Mounds,  as  the  place  is  called,  the  property  of  Mr.  W.  S.  James, 
of  Bay  Village,  Ark.,  consist  of  ridges  of  the  ground  and  one  flat  mound  on  the 
river  bank  of  the  type  with  which  the  reader  is  familiar.  This  mound,  presumably 
quadrangular  in  the  past,  is  now  of  irregular  outline  through  wash  of  water.  Its 
area  is  probably  about  two  acres.  The  height  of  the  mound  varies  greatly.  The 
upper  surface,  which  is  strewn  with  dwelling-site  debris,  slopes  slightly  downward 
toward  the  northern,  or  river,  side.  The  other  sides  have  suffered  to  such  an 
extent  through  wash,  and  so  much  surrounding  soil  has  been  carried  away  by  the 
river,  that  the  height  of  the  mound  varies  at  almost  every  part.  Probably  origi 
nally  its  altitude  did  not  exceed  6  or  7  feet. 

This  place  bears  a  great  reputation  for  the  discovery  of  human  skeletons  and 
accompanying  pottery  in  the  past,  and  evidently  it  had  been  most  persistently 
sounded  and  dug  previous  to  our  coining.  It  was  from  here  that  the  head  vessel 
in  Peabody  Museum,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  was  taken. 

Considerable  digging  on  our  part  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  one  skeleton  at 
full  length,  having  an  undecorated  vessel  at  the  head. 

THE  TURN  HOW  PLACE,  CROSS  COUNTY. 

About  one-quarter  mile  in  from  the  river  is  a  tract  of  cultivated  ground,  about 
fifty  acres  in  extent,  known  as  the  Turnbow  Place,  and  belonging  to  Mr.  W.  N. 
Turnbow,  who  resides  upon  it.  Part  of  this  place  is  made  up  of  a  number  of  ridges 
and  high  places,  and  is  similar  to  other  aboriginal  sites  along  St.  Francis  river. 
Most  of  the  elevated  ground  at  this  place,  however,  had  little  superficial  sign  of 

1  This  place  was  in  Poinsett  County  until  a  part  of  that  county,  including  the  Fortune  Mounds, 
was  taken  to  complete  Cross  County. 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS.  32o 

former  occupancy,  and  digging  in  these  parts  did  not  indicate  a  great  depth  of  mid 
den  deposit. 

The  westernmost  elevation,  however,  a  ridge  about  G  feet  high  and  125  feet  by 
225  feet  in  extent,  hud  over  the  surface  bits  of  pottery  and  fragments  of  human 
bones,  and  Mr.  Turnbow  told  of  burials  that  had  been  uncovered  there  by  the  plow. 

Eighteen  trial-holes  in  this  ridge  came  upon  only  a  single  burial,  with  an  un- 
decorated  bottle  at  the  skull. 

It  is  probable  that  this  ridge,  which  the  owner  informed  us  had  been  under 
cultivation  for  more  than  forty  years,  had,  in  the  course  of  time,  yielded  to  the 
plow,  and  perhaps  to  curiosity  hunters,  most  of  the  burials  it  once  contained. 

MOU.M)  ON  TIIK   LINDSAY  PLACE,  POIXSKTT  COUNTY. 

The  Lindsay  Place,  which  has  been  recently  cleared  of  timber,  belongs  to  Mr. 
.1.  \V.  Lindsay,  who  lives  upon  it.  A  short  distance  from  the  landing,  in  a  culti 
vated  Held  and  near  the  road  which  borders  the  river,  is  a  Hat  mound  about  3  feet 
in  height  and  30  feet  in  diameter. 

Eight  out  of  nine  trial-holes  in  this  mound  reached  raw  clay  containing  no 
mixture  of  midden-refuse,  when  at  a  short  distance  from  the  surface.  The  ninth 
hole,  when  about  1G  inches  down,  came  upon  a  large  fireplace  marked  by  clay  burnt 
almost  to  the  hardness  of  brick.  This  clay  in  places  had  a  maximum  thickness  of 
about  4  inches. 

The  bed  of  burnt  clay  had  upon  it,  in  one  place,  a  layer  gray  in  color,  com 
posed  of  ashes  with  a  slight  admixture  of  clay.  This  deposit,  irregular  in  outline, 
was  about  2  feet  square,  roughly  speaking.  Its  maximum  thickness  was  about  ;"> 
inches,  though  the  deposit  became  much  thinner  toward  the  edges.  This  deposit 
of  ashes  did  not  cover  the  fireplace,  but  was  found  on  it  only  in  one  place. 

Just  beside  the  deposit,  but  not  in  it,  resting  on  the  fireplace  in  an  upright 
position,  was  a  pot  having  the  lower  two-thirds  filled  with  very  dark  clay  and  frag 
ments  of  the  cremated  bones  of  a  child — a  cremation  which  had  been  thoroughly 
done,  compared  with  many  aboriginal  ones,  as  the  major  part  of  the  deposit  was 
hardly  more  than  powder,  while  the  larger  fragments  were  less  than  an  inch  in 
diameter  and  were  exceptional. 

The  upper  third  of  the  vessel  was  filled  with  the  ordinary  clay  from  the  mound, 
and  the  part  below,  much  darker  than  the  clay  above,  presumably  was  made  up  of 
a  mixture  of  the  cremated  bones,  ashes,  small  fragments  of  burnt  clay  from  the  fire 
place,  and  a  slight  infiltration  of  clay  from  above. 

Beside  this  urn-burial  were  the  fragments  of  a  bowl. 

Considerable  digging  was  done  in  connection  with  this  burial  to  discover 
whether  other  burials  had  been  made  in  its  vicinity,  but  none  was  encountered. 

We  are  unable  to  determine  if  the  fireplace  in  this  mound  was  simply  one 
similar  to  so  many  fireplaces  found  in  this  region,  where  the  aborigines  have  lived, 
and  the  urn-burial  was  placed  upon  it  merely  by  accident,  or  if  the  fireplace  marked 
the  site  of  the  cremation,  and  the  fireplace  and  the  mound  itself  were  made  expressly 
for  the  one  burial. 


326  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

CEMKTKKY  ox  THE  CUMMINGS  PLACE,  POINSETT  COUNTY. 

The  Cummings  Place,  belonging  to  Mr.  C.  C.  Gumming*,  who  resides  on  the 
plantation  and  at  Marked  Tree,  has  at  the  landing  considerable  high  ground  of 
artificial  origin,  through  which  a  road  has  been  cut,  and  on  which  is  Mr.  Cum 
mings'  home  and  also  a  large  barn  and  various  other  outbuildings,  and  an  enclosure 
for  stock,  in  which  a  building  formerly  stood. 

The  Cummings  Place  has  been  long  famous  for  the  aboriginal  pottery  found 
there,  and  we  were  informed  that  a  person  whom  we  knew  to  be  a  prominent 
vendor  of  aboriginal  relics,  and  to  have  passed  many  years  on  St.  Francis  river  in 
pursuit  of  his  vocation,  had  spent  much  time  at  that  place  and  had  gathered  an 
abundant  harvest  there. 

Our  successful  digging  at  the  Cummings  Place  was  done  in  that  part  of  the 
enclosure  where  a  house  had  been  at  the  time  of  the  visit  of  the  person  to  whom 
we  have  referred,  and  also  in  an  extension  of  the  raised  ground,  about  40  by  75  feet 
in  size,  immediately  across  a  fence  bordering  the  northern  side  of  the  enclosure. 

Our  work,  which  consisted  of  digging  here  and  there  and  enlarging  the  holes 
when  burials  were  encountered,  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  forty  interments  and 
of  sixty-six  vessels  of  earthenware,  nearly  all  of  which  were  with  the  burials. 

Of  the  forty  burials,  thirty-one  were  of  adults ;  five,  of  children  ;  two,  of  adoles 
cents;  and  two  were  aboriginal  disturbances.  One  of  these  latter,  Burial  No.  15, 
was  interesting  in  that  the  legs  showed  marked  disparity  of  development,  the  in 
dividual  in  life  having  been  decidedly  lame. 

With  the  exception  of  the  burials  of  two  or  three  children  (the  form  of  which 
was  not  determined)  and  of  one  burial  which  lay  at  full  length  face  down,  all  inter 
ments  from  the  Cummings  Place  were  extended  on  the  back,  with  three  slight 
variations,  as  follows  : 

1.  The  right  leg  crossing  above  the  left  knee. 

2.  Trunk  on  back,  thighs  flexed  upward  with  legs  partly  Hexed  on  the  thighs. 

3.  The  left  ankle  crossed  over  the  right  one. 
Three  skeletons  lay  with  the  skulls  resting  in  bowls. 

While  pottery  lay  with  nearly  all  the  burials  found,  but  few  other  artifacts 
had  been  placed  with  them.  With  a  child's  skeleton  were  five  beads  of  shell; 
an  earthenware  pipe  of  ordinary  type  lay  near  the  burial  of  an  adult. 

With  Burial  No.  36  was  an  earthenware  bottle  at  the  skull,  and  at  each  side 
of  the  cranium,  an  ear-plug  of  shell  of  the  type  having  the  shank  made  from 
the  penultimate  whorl  of  the  Fnlgur  (conch  shell)  and  the  mushroom-shaped  head 
from  parts  of  the  shell  on  each  side  of  the  suture.  On  page  295  of  our  "  Cer 
tain  Aboriginal  Remains  of  the  Alabama  River"  we  figure  a  shell  and  show 
exactly  from  what  parts  ornaments  of  this  kind  were  cut.1  This  form  of  orna 
ment  often  has  been  considered  a  pin,  but  as  we  have  frequently  found  such  orna 
ments  at  each  side  of  the  head  at  the  ears,  some  with  grooves  just  back  of  the  heads 

1  The  same  type  of  ornament  is  figured  by  Professor  Holmes  in  "Art  in  Shell,"  Plate  XXX, 
«K.  10. 


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AND   BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS.  327 

of  the  ornaments  and  some  with  perforations  in  the  ends  for  attachment,  we  are 
strongly  inclined  to  consider  them  ear-plugs. 

Burial  No.  11,  the  skeleton  of  a  child,  had  at  the  neck  three  marine  shells 
(Oliva  ///era/a),  cut  to  permit  stringing  as  beads  ;  one  shell  bead  at  the  right  wrist; 
a  mussel-shell  hoe  above  the  pelvis;  slightly  to  the  left  of  the  pelvis  a  small  bowl 
and  a  bottle,  and  an  undecorated  pot  in  which  was  a  small  bone.  With  these 
vessels  was  a  rudely  modeled  head  that  belonged  to  a  vessel  not  present  with  the 
rest.  Three  shell  beads  were  at  the  ankles. 

With  a  few  disturbed  bones  not  recorded  as  a  burial,  were  two  fragments  of 
sheet-copper;  some  shell  beads;  a  number  of  pillar-shaped  supports  for  receptacles, 
lying  in  a  mass  together,  similar  to  others  we  have  referred  to  with  the  exception 
that  these,  while  modeled,  had  not  been  fired. 

Scattered  through  the  debris  at  this  place  were  the  usual  piercing  implements 
of  bone,  and  disks  made  from  fragments  of  pottery  vessels,  some  perforated,  and 
some  not;  also  one  perforated  earthenware  disk  about  2  inches  in  diameter,  which 
had  been  shaped  and  fired. 

There  were  found  also  several  small  arrowheads  of  flint;  a  diminutive  ear 
plug  of  earthenware,  coated  with  red  pigment;  several  antler-points,  cut  squarely 
off,  and  in  several  instances  having  a  boring  in  the  proximal  end,  which,  however, 
was  not  of  sufficient  size  to  have  chambered  the  shaft  of  an  arrow. 

One  earthenware  pipe  and  part  of  another  one,  both  of  ordinary  type,  were 
found  apart  from  burials. 

The  sixty-six  vessels  found  by  us,  broken  and  whole,  were  in  the  main  undeco 
rated  and  of  ordinary  forms.  As  a  rule,  earthenware  lay  near  the  skulls,  but  no 
burial  had  more  than  four  vessels. 

The  use  of  red  paint  was  six  times  noted  on  the  pottery  at  this  place,  three 
times  in  uniform  coating. 

The  order  of  arrangement  of  vessels  at  the  Cummings  Place  presented  no  new 
feature.  In  one  instance  a  small  bowl,  erect,  was  completely  covered  with  the 
inverted  base  of  a  large  vessel  that  had  been  broken  into  a  circular  form  for  the 
purpose. 

Mussel-shells,  usually  badly  decayed,  were  present  in  some  of  the  vessels,  as 
was  one  shell  spoon  in  fragments. 

In  one  vessel  were  many  decaying  fish  bones. 

The  thrifty  natives  who  formerly  inhabited  the  Cummings  Place  had  been 
quick  to  utilize  broken  vessels  for  interment  with  the  dead.  In  no  fewer  than  four 
instances  there,  where  interesting  vessels  were  found,  important  parts  were  missing, 
though  in  three  cases  (as  in  the  case  of  broken  feet)  the  area  of  fracture  had  been 
smoothed  to  render  the  vessel  efficient. 

We  shall  now  describe  the  more  interesting  vessels  from  the  Cummings  Place. 

Vessel  No.  59.  This  bottle,  shown  in  Plate  XXIII.  is  of  yellow  ware,  having 
on  the  body  in  red  pigment,  as  decoration,  an  arrangement  based  on  the  triske/e, 
much  in  the  manner  of  many  of  the  swastika  designs  from  St.  Francis  river. 


328  ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

Around  the  nock,  also  in  red  pigment,  is  a  serpent  which  is  shown  extended 
on  the  same  plate  with  the  bottle.  To  any  one  familiar  with  the  markings  on  the 
diamond-back  rattlesnake  (Crotalus  adamanteus}  there  can  be  no  question  that  this 
serpent  was  intended  to  be  represented  on  the  vessel. 

But  here  an  interesting  point  arises.  The  diamond-back  rattlesnake,  i'ound 
chiefly  in  Florida,  though  its  habitat  extends  along  the  Gulf  coast  westward  to  the 
Mississippi  (some  of  these  snakes  having  been  found  near  New  Orleans),  is  practi 
cally  unknown  in  Arkansas,  though  one  specimen  is  reported  to  have  been  met 
with  there.1  Even  if  this  single  doubtful  case  was  correctly  reported,  presumably 
its  occurrence  was  in  southern  Arkansas,  while  the  region  whence  the  bottle  bear 
ing  the  serpent  came  is  well  to  the  northward  in  that  State. 

The  rattlesnake  known  to  Arkansas  is  the  banded  rattlesnake  (Crotalus  liorri- 
dus],  and  one  of  these  snakes  was  killed  by  us  at  the  Rose  Mound  on  St.  Francis 
river.  The  markings  on  the  banded  rattlesnake  have  nothing  in  common  with 
those  on  the  diamond-back  variety. 

In  connection  with  this  bottle,  with  its  pictured  diamond-back  rattlesnake, 
three  hypotheses  can  be  formulated  : 

1.  That  the  bottle  was  brought  from  regions  to  the  southward  :  though  we 
consider  this  most  unlikely,  as  the  decoration  on  the  remainder  of  the  bottle  is  of 
the  type  found  in  the  St.  Francis  region  and  not  of  the  kind  found  farther  south. 

2.  That  as  the  aborigines  were  constantly  traveling,  and  often  moving  from 
place  to  place,  the  bottle  was  made  in  northern  Arkansas  by  some  one  familiar  with 
the  diamond-back  rattlesnake  of  more  southerly  regions. 

3.  That  the  Crotalus  adamanteus  inhabited  northern  Arkansas  at  the  period 
when  the  bottle  was  made,  but  since  has  disappeared  from  so  northern  a  territory. 

Vessel  No.  61.  This  vessel,  a  bowl  11  inches  in  maximum  diameter,  has  pro 
jecting  upward  from  one  side  what  is  intended  to  represent  the  neck  and  head  of 
some  animal  whose  teeth  are  roughly  indicated  by  imprints  in  the  clay.  On  the 
opposite  side  of  the  bowl  is  a  conventional  tail.  This  type  of  bowl  with  animal 
head  and  tail  is  common  enough  in  the  Middle  Mississippi  region,  though  vessels  in 
which  the  head  is  hollow  and  contains  small  objects  that  rattle  when  shaken,  as  is 
the  case  with  the  vessel  under  description,  are  only  exceptionally  found  there. 

Vessel  No.  7.  A  graceful  bottle,  coated  with  brilliant  red  paint,  having  a 
globular  body  and  a  slender  neck.  A  projecting  basal  support  had  been  broken 
from  this  vessel  and  the  area  of  union  with  the  body  had  been  carefully  smoothed 
to  permit  the  vessel  still  to  retain  an  upright  position. 

Vessel  No.  54.  This  bottle,  of  black  ware,  had  originally  possessed  three 
globular  supports  at  the  base,  one  or  all  of  which  having  been  broken  off,  the  bottle 
had  been  treated  in  a  way  to  enable  it  to  continue  in  use. 

Vessel  No.  43,  a  compound  form  resembling  three  pots  joined,  though  interiorly 
there  is  but  little  separation  of  the  bodies.  Traces  remain  of  where  probably  an 

1  Leonhard  Stejneger.       "The  Poisonous  Snakes  of  North  America."       Kept.  U.  S.  National 
Museum  for  1893,  p.  435. 


JOURN.    ACAD.    NAT.   SCI.    PHILAD..   2ND  SER.,    VOL.  XIV. 


PLATE  XXIV. 


CUMMINGS  PLACE,  VESSEL  NO.  39.     (HEIGHT,  s.s  INCHES.) 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,   ARKANSAS.  329 

upright  neck  and  head,  modeled  after  those  of  some  animal,  have  been.  The  ware 
of  the  vessel  is  very  coarse,  and  the  outside  is  covered  with  soot,  showing  it  to  have 
been  in  use  for  culinary  purposes.  Two  small  ears  project  horizontally  from  oppo 
site  sides  of  each  of  the  three  openings.  Maximum  diameter,  13  inches;  height, 
7.8  inches.  The  outlines  of  a  type  of  vessel  somewhat  similar  to  this  one  are  figured 
by  Professor  Holmes.1 

Vessel  No.  39.  This  bottle  (Plate  XXIV),  with  double  neck  uniting  in  a  sin 
gle  one  above,  belonging  to  a  type  not  uncommon  in  the  Middle  Mississippi  region, 
bears  on  the  body  a  decoration  consisting  of  six  spaces  coated  with  red  and  white 
pigment  alternately,  on  a  background  of  brown  pigment.  The  neck,  apparently, 
has  been  covered  with  red  paint,  now  largely  worn  away.  The  appearance  of  the 
vessel,  as  shown  on  the  plate,  suggesting  a  lobcd  body  for  the  bottle,  is  shared  by 
the  original  vessel,  but  is  not  based  upon  fact,  the  lobed  appearance  being  caused 
by  the  heavy  bands  of  brown  between  the  spaces  of  red  and  of  white.  A  part  of 
the  neck  is  missing  through  breakage  in  early  times.  The  restoration,  shown  in 
broken  lines  on  the  plate,  is  based  on  comparison  with  other  bottles  of  the  same 
type  from  the  same  region,  though  this  double-neck  type  from  Peru  and  elsewhere 
often  has  a  longer  upper  portion  to  the  neck.  The  asymmetrical  shape  of  this  ves 
sel,  which  has  been  faithfully  reproduced  in  the  illustration,  is  typical  of  a  great 
number  of  vessels  along  the  St.  Francis. 

THE  MILLER  PLACE,  POINSETT  COUNTY. 

The  Miller  Place,  a  short  distance  below  the  town  of  Marked  Tree,  but  on  the 
opposite,  or  western,  side  of  the  river,  is  the  property  of  the  Messrs.  Bennett  Broth 
ers  (T.  J.,  J.  F.,  and  W.  W.  Bennett),  who  reside  on  the  plantation  and  at  Marked 
Tree. 

In  the  Twelfth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  for  1890-91,-  is  a 
description  of  this  place  and  a  plan  from  which  one  who  has  lately  visited  the  place 
can  see  how  much  cultivation  has  changed  it  in  later  years. 

Though  much  digging  was  done  at  the  Miller  Place  in  earlier  times,  for  the 
last  ten  years,  at  least,  indiscriminate  work  on  the  place  has  been  prohibited,  though 
there  has  been  surreptitious  search,  and,  according  to  all  accounts,  a  great  amount 
of  pottery  has  been  uncovered  in  the  course  of  cultivation.  In  fact,  at  the  time  of 
our  visit  there,  two  skeletons,  one  with  two  earthen  vessels,  were  ploughed  up 
within  a  few  feet  of  where  we  were  at  work. 

Immediately  at  the  landing  at  the  Miller  Place  are  extensive  high  places  of 
artificial  origin,  on  which  are  a  dwelling,  a  large  barn,  and  various  smaller  buildings, 
with  fenced  ground  pertaining  to  them.  Mi  this  ground,  of  course,  was  closed  to  us. 

Leading  back  through  cultivated  fields  toward  woods  which  surround  the  place 
are  two  parallel  ridges  of  rich,  black  soil,  both  of  which  have  long  been  under  culti 
vation.  It  was  in  these  ridges  that  practically  all  our  quest  was  conducted. 

'  <>i>.  cit.,  Plate  VII,  a. 
''  Page  207  et  seq. 

42  JOURX.  A.  X.  S.   1'HILA.,  VOL.  XIV. 


330  ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FRANCIS,   WHITE, 

Somewhat  back  from  the  landing,  but  in  full  view  from  it,  are  two  mounds 
surrounded  by  cultivated  ground.  One  of  these,  doubtless  quadrangular  in  the 
past,  has  now  the  outline  of  a  triangle  with  extremities  somewhat  blunted.  It* 
height  above  the  general  level  is  12  feet,  though  if  measured  from  positions  where 
it  is  evident  that  soil  has  been  removed,  the  height  is  considerably  greater.  The 
diameters  are  175  and  140  feet.  The  summit-plateau  is  about  100  feet  by  70  feet. 
This  mound  was  dug  into  superficially  with  negative  results. 

The  other  mound,  a  truncated  cone  and  very  symmetrical,  rises  about  13  feet 
above  the  general  level  of  the  surrounding  fields.  Its  diameter  is  112  feet. 

This  mound,  so  far  as  we  could  determine,  is  composed  of  raw-looking,  tena 
cious  clay.  Almost  at  the  surface  of  the  summit  was  a  burial  accompanied  with 
four  bottles. 

It  is  most  unlikly  that  this  mound  contains  burials  throughout,  and  it  was  not 
in  our  power  to  determine  the  matter  with  the  force  of  diggers  under  our  control, 
even  if  the  destruction  of  a  mound  which  might  prove  a  place  of  refuge  at  a  time 
of  unusually  high  water  were  permissible  or  if  the  proposal  to  scatter  quantities  of 
raw  clay  over  fertile  ground  could  have  been  entertained  by  the  owners. 

An  excavation,  partly  filled  with  water  at  the  time  of  our  visit,  whence,  no 
doubt,  material  for  the  mounds  had  been  taken,  is  near  the  ridges  of  which  mention 
has  been  made. 

Three  days  were  spent  by  us  in  digging  at  the  Miller  Place.  Burials  were 
encountered  in  all  parts  of  the  ridges,  though  they  were  somewhat  scattered  and 
never  in  large  groups. 

Fifty-eight  burials  were  encountered,  excluding  recent  disturbances.  Of  these 
burials  two  were  of  adolescents,  eighteen  or  possibly  nineteen  were  of  children,  the 
remainder  being  of  adults. 

With  one  exception,  that  of  a  child  lying  partly  flexed  on  the  right  side,  all 
burials  when  determined  were  at  full  length  on  the  back,  two  having  the  feet 
crossed  at  the  ankles. 

One  skeleton  lay  with  the  head  resting  in  a  large  bowl. 

The  custom  along  the  St.  Francis  of  depositing  few  objects  except  pottery 
with  the  dead  (and  the  natives  there  certainly  fulfilled  their  duty  in  respect  to 
pottery)  was  emphasized  at  this  place.  Shell  beads  (in  one  instance  a  single  bead) 
were  with  six  burials.  In  several  cases  small  shells  perforated  longitudinally,  badly 
decayed  as  a  rule,  lay  with  other  beads.  A  single  tubular  bead  of  sheet-copper 
rested  on  the  thorax  of  a  skeleton. 

Burial  No.  36,  an  adult,  had  at  the  right  shoulder  a  pot,  and  a  bottle  farther 
down  near  the  right  humerus.  At  the  left  elbow  were  a  bowl  and  a  pot,  the  latter 
containing  a  large  number  of  minute  chips  of  flint. 

Burial  No.  41,  an  adult,  had  a  bowl  at  the  skull,  and  at  the  outer  side  of  the 
left  thigh,  four  arrowheads  made  from  antler-points,  and  two  projectile  points  of 
flint  of  the  elongated,  leaf-shaped  variety.  Incidentally,  it  may  be  said  that  barbed 
arrowheads  or  any  arrowheads  of  stone,  except  of  the  type  to  which  reference  has 


JOURN.    ACAD.    NAT.   SCI.    PHILAD..  2ND  SER..    VOL.  XIV. 


PLATE  XXV. 


MILLER  PLACE,  VESSEL  NO.   1.     (HEIGHT,  9.7  INCHES.) 


COCKAYNE,  BOSTON. 


JOURN.   ACAD.    NAT.   SCI.    PHILAD..  2ND  SER..    VOL.  XIV. 


PLATE  XXVI. 


MILLER  PLACE,  VESSEL  NO.  42.     (HEIGHT.  10.8  INCHES, 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS.  331 

just  been  made,  are  uncommon  along  the  St.  Francis.  On  the  other  hand,  arrow 
heads  wrought  from  antler-points  are  more  numerous  in  the  St.  Francis  region  than 
we  have  found  them  to  he  elsewhere. 

Burial  No.  44,  the  skeleton  of  a  child,  had  near  the  upper  part  of  the  skull  a 
bowl  in  which  was  a  small  pot  inverted.  Also  near  the  skull  were  two  bottles. 
At  the  right  and  on  the  left  of  the  cranium  was  an  ear-plug  of  shell  of  the  blunt 
pin  variety,  while  beads  of  shell,  including  one  perforated  marine  shell  (Oliva 
literata],  lay  at  the  neck.  Square  beads  of  shell  having  carved  line  decoration 
were  on  the  upper  part  of  the  thorax.  At  the  left  shoulder  was  a  bottle,  its  open 
ing  covered  with  a  small  bowl  inverted. 

Burial  No.  49,  an  adult,  in  addition  to  pottery,  had,  at  the  neck,  one  large, 
spherical  shell  bead,  and  seven  tubular  beads  of  bone,  each  about  one  inch  in  length. 

Throughout  the  digging  were  found,  apart  from  burials,  and  probably  lost  while 
the  site  was  inhabited  :  a  spade  of  Hint,  7  inches  long  and  4  inches  in  maximum 
diameter;  three  small  ear-plugs  of  earthenware ;  several  piercing  implements  of 
bone;  antler-points;  earthenware  disks  made  from  broken  pottery,  perforate  and 
imperforate ;  one  bone  bead;  a  small  "  celt,"  probably  of  sedimentary  rock;  one 
pipe  of  earthenware,  of  ordinary  type. 

One  hundred  and  twelve  vessels  of  earthenware  were  found  on  the  Miller 
Place,  fifty-eight  of  which  were  presented  to  the  owners.  A  large  proportion  of  the 
remainder,  undecorated  and  hopelessly  crushed,  was  not  available  for  removal. 

In  eight  of  the  vessels  found  were  mussel-shells — two  in  one  instance.  Bones 
of  small  fish  were  in  four  vessels. 

The  maximum  number  of  vessels  found  with  one  burial  was  six,  in  one  in 
stance;  but,  as  a  rule,  one,  two,  or  three  vessels  lay  with  the  dead,  though  occa 
sionally  burials  were  found  unaccompanied  with  any  artifact.  As  is  usually  the 
case,  small  vessels  as  a  rule  had  been  placed  with  burials  of  children. 

Paint  had  been  used  as  a  decoration  for  pottery  in  nine  instances,  three  times 
consisting  of  a  uniform  coating  of  red. 

In  three  cases  at  the  Miller  Place  incised  decoration  over  the  bodies  of  vessels 
which  had  not  been  intended  for  culinary  purposes  had  been  attempted,  but  was  of 
the  rudest  character.  It  was  noted  here  also,  as  elsewhere,  that  a  marked  tendency 
on  the  part  of  the  aborigines  had  existed  to  place  imperfect  vessels  with  the  dead. 

The  following  vessels  from  this  place  seem  worthy  of  special  mention. 

Vessel  No.  1,  a  bottle  of  yellow  ware  (Plate  XXV),  has  in  red  pigment  two 
parallel  bands  around  the  neck,  and  on  the  body,  also  in  red,  a  combination  based 
on  the  swastika,  the  symbol  of  the  four  winds  or  directions. 

Vessel  No.  42.  This  bottle  (Plate  XXVI),  originally  with  a  tripod  support, 
which  had  been  lost  through  breakage  in  aboriginal  times,  has  a  decoration  consist 
ing  of  a  number  of  stepped  or  terraced  figures  representing  cloud-symbols,  done  in 
red  pigment  on  a  background  of  white  material,  doubtless  kaolin  such  as  we  found 
had  been  used  for  pigment  along  Arkansas  river.  The  neck  of  the  bottle  shows 
much  wear,  and  the  designs  formerly  upon  it  are  hardly  distinguishable  at  the  pres- 


332 


ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 


ent  time.  We  have  noticed  this  worn  condition  on  the  necks  of  many  bottles,  and 
believe  it  may  have  arisen  from  abrasion  by  a  cord  used  for  suspension.  We  have 
found  in  several  instances  bottles  whose  necks  plainly  showed  slight  grooves  left 
by  a  cord  or  thong. 

Vessel  No.  67.  This  bottle  (Plate  XXVII)  has,  by  way  of  decoration  on  the 
body,  diamond-shaped  figures  in  red  pigment  enclosed  in  diamonds  composed  of  pig 
ment  of  a  yellow  tinge.  The  space  encircling  the  base  of  the  neck  is  not  decorated 
with  this  pigment,  but  is  the  yellow  ware  without  the  addition  of  coloring  material. 
On  the  neck  of  the  bottle,  on  a  background  of  red,  is  an  angular  meander  of  the 
same  shade  of  pigment  as  appears  on  the  body  of  the  vessel. 

THE  POTTER  PLACE,  POIXSETT  COUNTY. 

The  Potter  Place,  on  Little  river,  owned  by  Mr.  W.  M.  Potter,  who  lives  there, 
borders  the  stream  and  is  made  up  of  considerable  high  ground  of  the  same  char 
acter  as  we  have  described  as  being  along  the  St.  Francis.  This  place  was  occupied 
for  two  years  by  a  very  energetic  dealer  in  Indian  pottery,  who  covered  the  upper 
St.  Francis  and  Little  rivers  in  his  work,  almost  as  thoroughly  as  did  another  dealer, 
whom  we  have  mentioned,  that  part  of  the  St.  Francis  below  Marked  Tree. 

Considerable  digging  at  random  by  us  in  a  part  of  the  plantation  not  occupied 
by  houses  and  fenced  enclosures,  came  upon  ten  burials:  five  of  adults;  three  of 
children  ;  two  of  adolescents. 

The  usual  extended  position  for  burials  had  exceptions  at  this  place  as  follows  : 
one  burial  in  a  squatting  position  ;  one  in  a  similar  position  except  the  body  was 
somewhat  tilted  to  one  side  ;  one  burial  extended,  face  down. 

With  one  interment  was  a 
bead  of  bone;  with  another,  a  shell 
hoe ;  and  two  shell  beads  were 
with  a  third. 

Burial  No.  10,  an  adult,  ex 
tended  face  down,  had  at  the  left 
elbow  a  bottle  with  a  bowl  inverted 
over  the  opening.  At  the  right 
of  the  pelvis  was  an  arrowpoint 
of  deer-antler.  A  piercing  imple 
ment  of  bone  lay  at  the  left  thigh. 
At  the  left  knee  were  four  arrow- 
points  of  antler  and  one  of  flint. 
Somewhat  above  the  left  knee 
was  an  earthenware  pipe  having 

c  c  ,i        i  i  j    i  FIG.  48. — Pipe  of  earthenware.     Potter  I'lace.     (Full  size.) 

in  front  of  the  bowl  a  rudely  mod 
eled  human   head  in  relief.      At  the  front  of  the  base  of  the  bowl  are  two  projec 
tions  to  hold  the  pipe  in  an  erect  position  (Fig.  48). 
A  small  "celt"  lay  apart  from  burials. 


JOURN.   ACAD.   NAT.  SCI.   PHILAD..  2ND  SER..   VOL.  XIV. 


PLATE  XXVII 


MILLER  PLACE,  VESSEL  NO.  67.     (HEIGHT.  6.5  INCHES.) 


COCKAYNE,  BOSTON. 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS.  333 

All  burials  but  two  were  accompanied  with  pottery,  and  one  of  these  two 
showed  signs  of  disturbance,  which  may  have  removed  accompanying  vessels. 

Eighteen  vessels  in  all,  presenting  no  feature  of  interest,  with  one  exception, 
were  with  the  burials.  A  bowl  on  which  had  been  two  loop-handles,  one  on  each 
side  below  the  rim,  had  lost  one  handle  in  aboriginal  times.  This  handle  had  been 
replaced  by  a  perforation  presumably  to  enable  the  vessel  to  be  continued  in  use. 
Evidently  the  loop-handles,  so  common  on  aboriginal  pottery  in  certain  regions, 
were  not,  as  some  have  thought,  simply  ornamental,  but  served  a  practical  purpose. 
Red  pigment  had  been  employed  on  but  one  of  the  eighteen  vessels. 

THK  STOTT  PLACE,  POINSKTT  COUNTY. 

The  Stott  Place,  belonging  to  Mr.  Frederick  M.  Stott,  who  lives  on  it,  also  had 
undergone  careful  search  by  the  diligent  worker  to  whom  we  have  referred  in  our 
account  of  the  Potter  Place. 

There  are  no  especially  high  places  on  the  Stott  property,  but  the  surface  of 
the  land  is  slightly  rolling,  owing  its  irregularities  to  aboriginal  deposit. 

Considerable  digging  came  upon  six  burials — four  of  adults,  two  of  children. 
Where  determined,  the  extended  form  of  burial  had  been  practised. 

Burial  No.  1,  the  skeleton  of  an  adult,  which  was  saved  almost  entire,  and 
with  the  skull  in  good  condition,  presents  pathological  features  of  much  interest, 
including  a  reunited  fracture.  In  addition  to  three  vessels,  a  chisel  chipped  from 
a  Hint  pebble,  5.25  inches  in  length,  lay  with  the  remains. 

Thirteen  vessels  were  found  with  the  burials,  nearly  all  of  them  undecorated, 
two  or  three  having  trivial  ornamentation. 

In  one  instance  two  large  fragments  of  pottery  had  been  placed  over  a  skull. 

At  the  Stott  Place,  which  is  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town  of  Lepanto,  our 
journey  up  Little  river  ended,  for  reasons  given  in  our  introductory  remarks. 

In  the  cemeteries  of  St.  Francis  river,  as  in  many  other  parts  of  the  Middle 
Mississippi  valley,  the  fish,  as  is  well  known,  was  a  favorite  concept  in  connection 
with  pottery  and  is  found  as  a  decoration  on  the  ware  in  various  degrees  of  conven 
tion.  As  a  series  of  bowls  from  the  St.  Francis,  showing  gradations  from  the  fish 
to  a  highly  conventionalized  decoration,  may  prove  of  interest,  such  a  series  is  given 
in  Figs.  49  to  50,  inclusive. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  Prof.  F.  W.  Putnam  and  Mr.  C.  C.  Willoughby,  of 
Peabody  Museum,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  we  have  received  nineteen  photographs  repre 
senting  the  most  interesting  vessels  in  the  collection  of  pottery  made  on  the  St. 
Francis,  in  1880,  for  Peabody  Museum. 

In  Figs.  57  to  03,  inclusive,  are  reproduced  (about  one-third  si/.e)  seven  of  these 
vessels,  all  but  one  decorated  with  red  pigment,  which  least  resemble  others  found 
by  us  on  the  St.  Francis,  though  some  of  the  vessels  from  the  Peabody  Museum 
collection,  which  we  figure,  rather  nearly  approach  in  appearance  certain  ones 
found  by  us. 


334 


ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 


FIG.  49. — Jones  Place.  In  this  figure  we  have  a  bowl  representing  a  fish, 
with  some  attempt  at  modeling  the  head  and  tail,  which  are  placed  con 
siderably  below  the  rim. 


FIG.  50. — Near  Turkey  Island.     Next  we  see  a  more  conventionalized  head  and 
tail,  and  notice  that  both  have  been  placed  at  the  level  of  the  rim. 


FIG.  51.— Miller  I'lace.     The  next  step  in  the  evolution  is  simplification  in 
the  rendering  of  the  head  and  tail. 


FIG.  52. — Jones  Place.  We  now  see  the  head  and  tail  of  the  fish  without 
detail  and  appearing  more  like  handles,  though  the  dorsal  and  the  ventral 
fins  still  remain  on  the  bowl. 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS. 


330 


FIG.  53. — Xear  Turkey  Island.  The  convention  is  now  further  advanced. 
In  addition  to  the  plain  and  uniform  appearance  of  the  head  and  tail,  we 
see  the  dorsal  and  ventral  fins  resembling  handles,  and  without  attempt 
at  detail. 


Fl(i.  54. — Rose  Mound.     The  (ins  have  disappeared.     The  head  and  tail  aie  uni 
form  or  perhaps  simply  the  tail  of  the  fish  has  been  duplicated. 


FIG.  55. — Jones  Place.  Here  we  have  a  further  step  in  convention,  two 
tails  with  but  little  resemblance  to  those  seen  in  the  early  stage  of  the 
evolution  are  present  on  the  howl. 


FIG.  5ti. — Xear  Turkey  Island.  Lastly  we  have  a  bowl  with  a  uniform 
decoration  encircling  the  rim.  based  upon  the  tail  shown  in  the  preceding 
figure. 


336 


ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 


FIG.  57.  — 1'eabody  Museum  Collection.     Rose  Mound.  FIG.  58.— Peabodv  Museum  Collection.     Kose  Mound. 


FIG.  59.— Peabodv  Museum  Collection.     Eose  Mound. 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,   ARKANSAS. 


337 


Km.  60.  — Peabody  MUSC.MIMI  Collection.     Rose  Mound. 


Km.  61.     Peabody  Museum  Collection.     Ilulcomh  Mound. 


We  are  unable  to  identify  the  Halcomb  Mound,  whence  came  one  of  the  ves 
sels  from  the  Peabody  Museum  collection.  The  mound  is  referred  to  as  being  "  two 
miles  above  Neeley's  Ferry."  This  is  about  the  location  of  the  Catfish  Mounds 
(described  in  our  report),  and  perhaps  thirty  years  ago  they  bore  the  other  name. 


FIG.  li:J. — Peabody  Museum  ( 'nllerlion.     Fortune  Mound.          FK;.  63. — I'eabody  Museum  ColU'i'tion.     Stanley  Mounds. 


43  JOURS.  A.  X.  S.   I'll  I  LA.,  VOL.  XIV. 


Mitchells  Log-CQ 


WAP  OF  PARTS  Of  THE  WHITE  AND  BLACK  RIVERS 


Scale  in  miles 


PAUT    II. 
WHITE,  AND  BLACK1  RIVERS. 

As  stated  in  our  introductory  remarks,  -J(i5  miles  of  White  river  (which  takes 
its  name  from  the  beautiful  clearness  of  its  water)  and  109  miles  of  Black  river,  in 
both  instances  from  the  mouth  up,  were  investigated  by  us  last  season. 

The  lower  part  of  White  river  to  St.  Charles,  60  miles  by  water,  had  been 
carefully  searched  by  us  without  result  in  the  spring  of  1908,  the  only  high  ground 
within  reach  having  been  Indian  Bay,  a  description  of  which  site  may  be  found  in 
a  report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology. - 

Still  farther  up.  White  river  runs  through  overflow  country  where  sites  of 
aboriginal  occupancy  if  present,  were  not  within  working  distance  from  the  water. 
In  fact  the  entire  stream,  so  far  as  investigated  by  us,  is  lined  by  much  low  ground 
where  archaeological  research  is  not  likely  to  be  rewarded.  Knowing  this  in  ad 
vance,  and  that,  with  a  few  trifling  exceptions,  no  aboriginal  objects  had  been 
obtained  from  the  White  and  Black  river  regions,  in  Arkansas,  we  nevertheless 
decided  to  search  the  territory  thoroughly  in  order  that  a  region  so  favorably 
situated  geographically  in  the  midst  of  a  territory  filled  with  Indian  remains  could 
be  placed  on  record,  though  reali/ing  that  the  quest  might  be  a  fruitless  one. 

While  most  of  the  owners  of  sites  along  White  and  Black  rivers  granted  cordial 
assent  to  our  request  to  investigate  their  properties,  some  failed  to  make  reply, 
though  addressed  a  number  of  times  on  the  subject.  We  mention  this  fact  in  no 
spirit  of  adverse  criticism,  but  simply  to  explain  the  omission  on  our  part  of  more 
complete  investigation.  However,  presumably,  enough  work  was  done  by  us  to 
determine  the  nature  of  the  territory,  for  with  one  exception  no  site  of  interest  was 
found  along  White  river,  and  but  three  vessels  of  earthenware  were  encountered 
along  the  stream. 

Along  Black  river,  while  some  vessels  were  found,  not  one  was  of  a  character 
to  warrant  its  transportation  home. 

On  both  rivers,  though  burials  were  fairly  numerous,  they  were  almost  invari- 
ablv  unaccompanied  by  artifacts,  a  remarkable  fact  considering  the  custom  of  lavish 
ing  deposits  upon  the  dead  as  practised  by  aborigines  of  nearby  regions. 

As  a  rule,  we  shall  describe  all  mounds  visited  by  us  along  White  and  Black 
rivers,  but  shall  give  details  only  of  such  dwelling-sites  as  yielded  burials  to  our 
search,  though  many  other  sites  were  investigated. 

1  The  Black  river  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas  should  not  be  confounded  with  the  Black  river  of 
Louisiana  or  the  Big  Black  of  Mississippi. 

-  Third  An.  Rep.  Bur.  Etlin.,  p.  4*7  et  net]. 


340  ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FRANCIS,   WHITE, 

SITKS  INVESTIGATED. 
WHITE  RIVER,  ARKANSAS. 

Mt.  Adams,  Arkansas  County. 

Pepper  Field.  Monroe  County. 

Old  Plum  Orchard  Landing,  Monroe  County. 

King's  Landing,  Prairie  County. 

Chandler  Landing,  Prairie  County. 

Negro  Hill,  White  County. 

Lindsay's  Point,  White  County. 

Atkinson  Ferry,  White  County. 

Tavlor's  Bavou.  Woodruff  Countv. 

•/  •/  •*> 

Wamic  Place.  White  County. 
Haralson  Place,  Woodruff  County. 
Hawkins  Place,  Woodruff  County. 
Vincent  Place,  Woodruff  County. 
Hames  Place,  Woodruff  County. 
Teague  Mound,  Woodruff  County. 

BLACK  RIVER,  ARKANSAS. 

Elgin,  Jackson  County. 

Lindley  Landing,  Jackson  County. 

Perkins  Field,  Independence  County. 

Little  Turkey  Hill,  Independence  County. 

Barter  Knoll,  Independence  County. 

Tucker  Bay,  Lawrence  County. 

Clover  Bend,  Lawrence  County. 

Lauratown,  Lawrence  County. 

Cornpen  Landing,  Lawrence  County. 

Upper  Hovey  Place,  Randolph  County. 

Mitchell's  Log-camp  Landing,  Randolph  County. 

MOUND  NEAR  MT.  ADAMS,  ARKANSAS  COUNTY. 

About  one-quarter  mile  NW.  from  Mt.  Adams,  in  sight  of  the  road  which 
passes  through  woods  on  property  of  Mr.  Richard  McRee,  who  lives  at  Mt.  Adams, 
is  a  mound  20  feet  high  and  138  feet  in  diameter  of  base.  A  number  of  trial-holes 
showed  the  mound  to  be,  as  far  as  dug,  composed  of  river  deposit.  No  sign  of  burial 
was  met  with,  and  no  artifact  with  the  exception  of  a  single  arrowhead  of  flint. 

MOUND  NEAR  PEPPER  FIELD,  MONROE  COUNTY. 

A  tract  near  the  river  bank,  formerly  under  cultivation,  said  to  belong  to  the 
State,  is  known  as  Pepper  Field.  In  this  field  is  a  low  mound  of  sand,  much 


AND   BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS.  341 

worked  away  through  cultivation,  on  part  of  which  is  a  house  occupied  by  a  colored 
family.  Considerable  digging  in  the  unoccupied  part  of  the  mound  yielded,  in  three 
instances,  skeletal  remains  very  badly  decayed.  With  one  burial  was  a  rude  vessel 
of  earthenware,  badly  crushed. 

MOUXD  NEAR  OLD  PLUM  ORCHARD  LANDING,  MONROK  COUNTY. 
Following  the  road  in  from  Old  Plum  Orchard  Landing,  the  residence  of  Mr. 
J.  T.  Evans  is  reached,  on  whose  property  is  a  small  mound.      This  mound,  which 
is  much  spread  and  is  but  a  few  inches  above  the  surrounding  level,  yielded  neither 
skeletal  remains  nor  artifact. 

CKMKTKRIKS  NKAR  KING'S  LANDING,  PRAIRIK  COUNTY. 

At  King's  Landing  is  a  plantation  belonging  to  Mr.  J.  A.  King,  of  Desarc. 
Ark.  In  a  field  back  of  the  plantation  house,  which  is  near  the  landing,  were  a 
few  scattered  signs  of  aboriginal  occupancy.  Considerable  digging  in  this  field,  at 
a  place  where  the  soil  seemed  darker  than  elsewhere,  unearthed  a  number  of  skele 
tons,  nearly  all  badly  disturbed  by  the  plow,  and  all  very  much  decayed.  With 
one  skeleton  was  a  large,  tubular,  shell  bead  ;  with  another,  below  the  knee,  were 
many  small,  discoidal  beads,  also  of  shell. 

About  1.5  mile  N.  by  W.  from  King's  Landing  is  a  small  cottonfield,  also 
property  belonging  to  Mr.  King,  where,  in  two  places,  were  visible  on  the  surface 
many  fragments  of  human  bones  and  dwelling-site  debris. 

Considerable  digging  in  these  sites  yielded  fourteen  burials  :  partly  Hexed  on  the 
right,  and  on  the  left;  at  full  length  on  the  back  ;  and  disturbances,  aboriginal  and 
recent.  In  addition,  two  skeletons  lay  extended,  face  down  ;  and  another  was  on 
the  back,  partly  Hexed,  with  the  thighs  widely  everted,  the  legs  crossing  at  the 

feet. 

The  burials  at  this  place  presented  no  fixed  orientation  ;  nor  did  they  at  any 
other  point,  so  far  as  our  investigation  on  White  and  Black  rivers  extended. 

MOUNDS  NEAR  CHANDLER  LANDING,  PRAIRIE  COUNTY. 

About  l.'Jo  mile  almost  due  E.  from  Chandler  Landing  is  a  farm  about  fifty 
acres  in  extent,  most  of  which  is  beyond  reach  of  the  river,  though  around  it  is 
woodland  which  is  inundated  in  periods  of  high  water. 

The  farm  and  the  surrounding  forest  land  are  the  property  of  Mr.  E.  W.  Grove, 
of  St.  Louis,  and  are  under  the  management  of  Mr.  R.  D.  Caldwell.  of  Desarc,  Ark., 
who  kindly  placed  them  at  our  disposal. 

MOUND  A. 

A  few  feet  from  a  farm  house  by  the  roadside,  which  is  occupied  by  an  intelli 
gent  colored  man,  who  cultivated  the  farm,  was  a  mound  7  feet  6  inches  high,  and 
G5  feet  across  its  circular  base. 


342  ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

The  tenant  informed  us  he  had  dug  into  the  mound,  intending  to  make  a 
receptacle  for  potatoes,  but  coming  upon  human  bones  he  had  abandoned  the  pro 
ject.  With  these  bones,  he  told  us,  was  a  ball  of  stone  and  a  grooved  axe,  which 
latter  he  presented  to  us. 

The  mound  was  practically  leveled  by  us  with  the  aid  of  from  eight  to  twelve 
men,  in  twenty-nine  working  hours.  While  a  mound  of  sand  the  size  of  this  one 
could  have  been  demolished  with  an  equal  force  in  half  the  time,  this  tumulus  of 
loamy  material,  owing  to  long  continued  drought,  was,  with  the  exception  of  super 
ficial  parts,  dried  to  a  degree  of  hardness  requiring  constant  use  of  the  pick.  This 
condition  was  not  only  a  cause  of  delay,  but  made  the  recovery  of  objects  difficult 
without  subjecting  them  to  breakage. 


FIG.  64. — Vessel  of  earthenware.     Mounds  near  Chandler  Landing.     (Height  3.4  inches.) 

Human  remains  in  this  mound  were  often  only  decaying  fragments — sometimes 
mere  particles  of  bone — and  were  present  throughout,  but  less  frequently  than 
would  be  expected  in  a  mound  of  the  size  of  the  one  in  question  were  it  not  borne 
in  mind  that,  presumably,  many  burials  had  entirely  disappeared. 

The  condition  of  the  bones  and  the  character  of  the  material  in  which  most  of 
them  were  embedded  made  determination  of  the  form  of  burial  impossible,  though 
in  several  instances  the  burial  at  length  was  indicated.  In  one  case  a  layer  of  bones 
was  present,  apparently  consisting  of  skeletons  and  parts  of  skeletons  mingled, 
many  bones,  however,  being  missing  and  others  being  out  of  place. 

The  artifacts  in  this  mound,  and  in  a  small  neighboring  one  to  be  described 
later,  show  that  a  culture  tending  toward  the  use  of  stone  exclusively  had  prevailed 
at  the  place,  a  fact  quite  exceptional  in  all  our  work  in  Arkansas. 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS. 


343 


Fio.  (!3. — Pipe  of  earthenware.     Mounds  near  Chandler  I.Hndin;;.     (Full  size.) 

One  vessel  of  earthenware  lay  with  a  burial.  This  vessel,  shown  in  Fig.  04, 
is  of  no  special  interest  except  that  it  is  practically  the  only  one  found  by  us  on 
White  river,  the  two  others  referred  to  elsewhere  having  been  represented  by  un- 
decorated  fragments  of  inferior  ware. 

With  another  burial  was  a  pipe  of  earthenware.  ;">.-'!  inches  in  length  (Fig.  05), 
the  only  other  object  of  earthenware  present  in  the  mound.  This  pipe,  like  all 
others  found  at  this  place,  has  the  bowl  and  the  stem  in  one  piece.  Vertical  and 


Ki<;.  lift. — Vertical  and  cross  sections  of  pipe  shown  in  Fig.  o'o. 


344 


ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 


FIG.  67. — Pipe  of  shale.     Mounds  near  Chandler  Landing.     (Full  size.) 

cross  sections  are  shown  in  Fig.  GO.  There  came  from  this  mound  also,  both  near 
human  remains,  two  monolithic  pipes,  similar  in  shape,  of  massive  shale  (as  were 
all  the  stone  pipes  from  these  mounds),  one  7.25  inches  in  length  (Fig.  67,  vertical 
and  cross  sections  in  Fig.  68),  the  other  unfortunately  deprived  of  part  of  its  stem 
by  a  blowr  from  a  pick  which  ground  the  part  that  was  struck  into  irrecoverable 
fragments.  There  was  also  present  in  the  mound  the  stem  of  a  stone  pipe  which 


FIG.  63. — Vertical  and  cross  sections  of  pipe  shown  in  Fig.  67. 


JOURN.   ACAD.    NAT.   SCI.    PHILAD..  2ND  SER..   VOL.  XIV. 


PLATE  XXVIII. 


NEAR  CHANDLER  LANDING,  CEREMONIAL  AXE.     (FULL  SIZE.) 


COCKAYNE,  BOSTON. 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS.  34.") 

had  been  similar  to  the  two  already  described.      Its  base  is  Hat  like  that  of  the  pipe 
from  Mound  B. 

Half-tone  representations  of  the  earthenware  pipe  and  the  stone  pipe,  from 
Mound  A,  were  submitted  by  us  to  Mr.  Joseph  U.  McGuire  whose  report  on  these 
pipes,  based  on  his  great  experience  in  sueh  matters,  is  highly  valued  by  us. 

The  pipes,  according  to  Mr.  McGuire,  seem  to  be  extremely  interesting  speci 
mens  of  the  Monitor  type  and  certainly  would  be  classed  as  such  if  only  their  bases 
were  Hat — especially  in  the  ease  of  the  stone  pipe  which  apparently  has  some  feat 
ures  belonging  to  the  Siouan  type.  Mr.  McGuire.  however,  dues  not  know  of  the 
occurrence  of  the  Siouan  type  so  far  west  as  Arkansas,  though  pipes  of  this  type 
arc  common  from  Maine  to  Georgia  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  and  as  far  west  as 
the  mountains,  as  may  be  seen  by  Mr.  McGuire's  "  Pipes  and  Smoking  Customs  of 
the  American  Aborigines." 

The  earthenware  pipe  from  the  Chandler  Landing  mound,  according  to  Mr. 
MeGuire,  apparently  belongs  to  the  same  type  as  does  the  one  of  stone,  and  is 
unique  so  far  as  Mr.  MeGuire  recalls.  The  large  bowl,  as  is  well  known,  is  com 
mon  to  the  Arkansas  pipes,  but  the  small  perforation  in  the  stem  appears  to  be 
typical  of  the  Monitor  type.  While  the  earthenware  pipe  is  in  its  exterior  similar 
to  pipes  found  from  South  Carolina  to  New  Jersey,  the  perforation  of  the  bowl  and 
the  stem  in  the  earthenware  pipe  is  different  in  proportions  from  those  found  in 
the  others. 

Also  Mr.  McGuire  considers  the  finding  of  the  earthenware  pipe  and  the  stone 
pipe  in  the  same  mound  to  be  an  extremely  interesting  thing. 

Unfortunately  the  half-tone  representation  of  the  stone  pipe  from  Mound  B 
near  Chandler  Landing  was  not  prepared  in  time  for  us  to  submit  it  to  Mr. 
McGuire.  While  the  stone  pipe  from  Mound  A  shows  a  flattening  of  the  base, 
a  broken  pipe  from  Mound  A  as  well  as  the  pipe  from  Mound  B  show  a  more 
decided  flattening  and  seem  to  be  still  more  confirmatory  of  Mr.  McGuire's  belief 
that  the  pipes  from  this  place  are  of  the  Monitor  type. 

Four  boat-stones  came  from  this  mound.  Of  these  we  shall  speak  later  in 
connection  with  two  others  found  in  Mound  B  nearby. 

Throughout  the  mound,  usually  apart  from  burials  but  sometimes  with  them, 
were  eighteen  lanceheads  and  arrowheads  of  flint,  all  found  singly  with  one  excep 
tion  where  four  lay  side  by  side  with  a  burial.  Also  with  a  burial  lay  a  finely 
wrought  leaf-shaped  blade  of  flint,  9.75  inches  in  length  and  having  a  maximum 
width  of  "2.o  inches. 

Near  the  leaf-shaped  blade  was  a  rare  form  in  stone  (Plate  XXVIII),  8.3 
inches  in  length.  The  material  is  probably  green  quart/.ite.  This  object,  which 
resembles  a  chisel  in  shape,  is  in  reality  a  ceremonial  axe,  as  is  evident  from  the 
mark  left  plainly  upon  it  by  the  handle. 

Not  far  from  this  ceremonial  object,  and  also  in  association  with  bones,  was 
another,  of  slate,  of  the  same  type.  10.5  inches  in  length. 

1  Rep.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mu*.,  18!»7. 

44  JOURX.  A.  X.  S.   1'IIILA.,  VOL.  XIV. 


346  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS.    WHITE, 

In  the  present  connection  it  may  be  said  that  the  so-called  hoe-shaped  imple 
ments  which  some  writers  had  supposed  to  be  ceremonial  axes,  have  been  demon 
strated  to  be  such.1  inasmuch  as  a  number  of  these  '-implements"  found  by  us 
plainly  show  where  and  how  their  handles  had  been  placed;  and  the  soft  stone 
from  which  these  objects  often  have  been  fashioned  and  the  absence  of  chipping  at 
the  cutting-edges  clearly  indicate  their  ceremonial  character. 

»/ 

The  "  celts  "  of  copper,  and  the  long,  slender  implements  of  the  same  material, 
found  at  Moundville.  Ala,,2  were  all  set  in  handles  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  of 
the  so-called  hoe-shaped  implements;  and  it  is  our  belief  that  objects  of  the  type 
of  those  from  Moundville,  and  also  the  chisel-like  implements  of  stone  found  by  us 
in  the  mound  at  Mount  Royal,  Florida,  and  at  this  place,  as  wrell  as  the  objects 
generally  known  as  spade-shaped,  or  spuds,  are  neither  more  nor  less  than  cere 
monial  axes. 

To  return  to  the  contents  of  this  mound,  fragments  of  much-decayed  wood 
stained  by  copper  lay  near  a  burial;  while  dissociated  were  half  a  ''celt"  of  sedi 
mentary  rock  and  a  small  Hint  implement  with  rounded  ends. 

MOUND  B. 
About  400   yards  in  a  northwesterly  direction   from   Mound  A,  in  the  same 

»/  «/ 

field,  was  a  mound  4.5  feet  in  height  and  40  feet  in  diameter  of  base.  This  mound, 
largely  of  clay,  had  been  much  plowed  away  at  the  sides,  so  that  by  the  complete 
excavation  of  the  central  part,  28  feet  by  38  feet  in  diameter,  we  demolished  practi 
cally  all  that  had  been  left  of  the  mound. 

Fragments  of  bone  were  met  with  at  intervals  throughout  the  excavation, 
crushed  Hat  and  broken  into  many  fragments. 

Pottery  was  absent. 

Lying  with  a  burial  were  three  lancepoints  of  Hint,  the  largest  4.25  inches  in 
length  ;  and  a  handsome  monolithic  pipe.  7. '2-5  inches  long  (Fig.  (>9,  vertical  and 
cross  sections  in  Fig.  70). 

With  a  skull  were  one  shell  bead  and  four  perforated  pearls,  much  decayed. 

There  came  from  this  mound  two  boat-stones  apart  from  bones,  but  which 
doubtless  had  been  interred  with  them. 

Of  the  six  boat-stones  from  this  place,  two  are  made  possibly  from  a  green 
igneous  rock,  one  from  a  ferruginous  rock,  one  from  gray  shale,  one  from  earthy 
limonite  on  which  a  hard  ferruginous  coating  has  formed,  and  one  from  rock 
crystal.  They  range  in  length  between  2.5  inches  and  3.7  inches,  have  no  perfora 
tions  or  grooves,  and  but  one  shows  a  hollowing  out  of  the  base. 

The  boat-stone,  the  use  of  which  is  problematical,  "found  sparingly  in  most  of 
the  states  east  of  the  Mississippi,"3  and  here  met  with  but  slightly  west  of  that 

1  "The  So-called  '  Hoe-shaped  Implement.'"     Anier.  Anthropologist,  Julv-Sept.,  1903. 

"Certain   Aboriginal  Remains  of  the  Black   Warrior  River."      Journ.  A  cad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phihi., 
Vol.  XI 1 1,  p.  154,  Figs.  27  and  28. 

''  "  Handbook  of  the  American  Indians."     Bur.  Am.  Ethn.  Hid.  30,  Part  I. 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS. 


34; 


KKJ.  (>!(.— 1'ipe  of  sliale.     Mounds  near  Chandler  Landing.     (Full  si/.e.l 


l-'lii.  To.  —Vertical  and  cross  sections  of  pipe  shown  in  V\g.  Oil. 


348  ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FRANCIS,   WHITE, 

river,  is  usually,  though  not  invariably,  hollowed  as  to  the  base,  and  grooved  or 
perforated.  Wisconsin  specimens,  however,  show  some  with  fiat  bases,  and  one 
having  a  flat  base  with  neither  groove  nor  perforation.1 

It  would  be  untenable,  we  think,  to  suppose  the  superb  boat-stone  of  rock 
crystal,  with  its  beautifully  beveled  upper  edge  (Figs.  71,  72),  which  was  found  by 
us  with  a  burial  near  the  base  of  the  larger  mound,  to  be  an  unfinished  object. 
Probably,  as  has  been  suggested,  boat-stones  without  means  of  attachment  were 
carried  in  the  bags  of  shamans. 


FIG.  71. — Boat-stone  of  rock  crystal.     Mounds  near  FIG.  72. — Boat-stone  of  rock  crystal.     Side  view. 

Chandler  Landing.     (Full  size.)  (Full  size.) 

In  the  field  in  which  were  the  mounds  were  several  sites  which,  by  the  color 
of  the  soil,  led  us  to  believe  they  might  prove  to  be  cemeteries,  though  on  them 
were  no  debris  indicating  aboriginal  occupancy.  Trial-holes  in  these  places  proved 
unavailing. 

MOUNDS  NEAR  NEGRO  HILL,  WHITE  COUNTY. 

On  property  belonging  to  the  Stoneman  &  Zearing  Lumber  Company,  of  Devall 
Bluff,  Ark.,  in  woods  subject  to  overflow,  on  the  western  side  of,  and  some  in  sight 
from,  a  trestle  that  forms  the  western  approach  of  a  railroad  bridge  crossing  the 
river  below  the  settlement  of  Negro  Hill,  are  two  low  ridges  and  two  low,  flat- 
topped  mounds,  of  sandy  soil.  Careful  investigation  of  the  two  mounds  and  one  of 
the  ridges  yielded  neither  bone  nor  artifact. 

On  the  eastern  side  of  the  trestle  and  in  sight  from  it  is  another  low,  flat- 
topped  mound.  Nine  trial-holes  in  this  mound  produced  in  only  one  instance,  near 
the  surface,  a  few  scattered  human  bones  and  fragments  of  an  earthenware  bowl. 

CEMETERY  AT  LINDSAY'S  POINT,  WHITE  COUNTY. 

Lindsay's  Point,  the  property  of  Mr.  W.  A.  Haley,  who  lives  on  the  place, 
may  be  reached  from  White  river  but  is  more  conveniently  approached  by  running 
up  Little  Red  river  about  2  miles. 

The  point  is  high  ground  surrounded  by  woods.  Near  the  river  is  a  strip  of 
soil  black  from  admixture  of  organic  matter  and  having  on  the  surface  many  small 
fragments  of  pottery,  pebble-hammers,  and  other  debris.  It  is  said  that  human 
bones  have  been  ploughed  up  at  this  place. 

Careful  investigation  yielded  scattered  human  bones  and  four  burials,  two  of 

1  Charles  E.  Brown,  "  Wisconsin  Archaeologist,"  Oct.-Dec.,  1909,  pp.  147,  148. 


AND   BLACK    RIVERS,   ARKANSAS.  349 

which  latter  were  disturbed  skeletons,  another  lay  at  full  length  on  the  back,  and 
one  was  partly  Hexed  lying  on  the  left  side.  With  this  last  burial,  near  the  knees, 
was  an  arrowhead  or  knife  of  Hint. 

Little  Red  river  was  carefully  searched  by  us  to  West  Point,  about  18  miles 
up,  by  water.  There  is  much  high  ground  along  the  banks,  which  seems  well  fitted 
to  have  served  as  places  of  aboriginal  abode.  No  mounds  or  cemeteries  were  met 
with,  however,  except  the  small  site  at  Lindsay's  Point. 

It  is  possible  that  what  we  sought  may  be  found  in  the  high  ground  at  a  dist 
ance  from  the  river,  but  unfortunately  beyond  our  reach. 


MoUXDS    NEAR   ATKINSON    FERRY,    WHITE    COUNTY. 

On  property  of  Mr.  T.  E.  Stanley,  of  Augusta,  Ark.,  about  3  miles  by  water 
above  Augusta,  but  on  the  left  side  of  the  river,  going  up,  are  several  low  mounds, 
one  of  which  serves  as  a  site  for  a  stable.  Considerable  digging  in  these  mounds 
yielded  nothing. 

MOUNDS  NEAR  TAYLOR'S  BAYOU,  WOODRUFF  COUNTY. 

Taylor's  Bayou  (locally  called  Taylor's  Bay)  enters  White  river  a  short  dist 
ance  above  Augusta.  About  2  miles  up  the  bayou,  on  the  eastern  side,  is  a  planta 
tion  belonging  to  Mr.  T.  E.  Stanley,  of  Augusta,  owner  of  the  place  at  Atkinson 
Ferrv,  to  which  reference  has  just  been  made. 

At  the  southeastern  end  of  the  Taylor  Bayou  plantation,  in  a  cultivated  field, 
are  two  mounds  within  a  few  yards  one  of  the  other,  both  much  spread  by  the  plow. 

MOUND  A. 

This  mound,  about  4  feet  in  height  and  47  feet  across  its  circular  base,  of  dark, 
sandy  clay,  had  nine  trial-holes  sunk  into  it  by  us.  These  trial-holes  (supposed  to 
be  o  to  0  feet  in  length  and  3  feet  across,  but  which  are  sometimes  not  fully  this 
size)  were  first  carried  to  the  base  of  the  mound  and  then  extended  to  include  a 
considerable  part  of  it. 

Four  burials  were  encountered,  as  follows:  an  adult  and  an  adolescent,  both 
partly  Hexed  and  lying  on  the  right  side ;  a  small  child  ;  an  adult  at  full  length  on 
the  back. 

The  bones  of  the  three  skeletons  first  named,  though  found  less  deep,  were 
badly  decayed  and  fragmentary.  On  the  other  hand,  the  extended  skeleton,  which 
was  at  a  depth  of  40  inches,  was  well  preserved. 

No  artifacts  lay  with  the  burials ;  indeed,  the  only  ones  found  in  the  mound 
were  a  small  flint  arrowhead,  and  a  fragment  of  pottery,  square  with  rounded  cor 
ners,  having  a  countersunk  perforation  in  the  center  from  which,  on  one  side. 
incised  lines  radiate  to  the  margin. 


350  ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

MOUXD  B. 

This  mound,  about  2  feet  high  and  4")  feet  in  diameter,  was  tentatively  investi 
gated  by  means  of  nine  trial-holes  which  afterward  were  greatly  enlarged.  It 
became  apparent  that  the  central  part  of  the  mound  had  been  used  for  burials; 
consequently  a  median  portion,  24  feet  in  diameter,  was  completely  dug  out  by  us. 

Sixteen  burials,  all  badly  decayed,  were  found,  none  deeper  than  2  feet  from 
the  surface.  The  burials  were  as  follows  :  some  closely  flexed,  some  partly  flexed, 
sometimes  to  the  right  side,  sometimes  to  the  left;  a  skull  with  scattered  bones;  a 
skull  with  a  single  thigh  bone  ;  a  flexed  skeleton  without  a  skull,  though  an  isolated 
cranium  was  found  at  a  distance  of  4  feet  from  it. 

But  one  artifact  lay  with  these  burials.  Burial  No.  4,  the  skull  and  thigh 
bone  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  had  with  it  a  neatly-made  pipe  of  massive 
red  shale. 

Apart  from  burials  were  a  rude  mortar  represented  by  a  flat  stone  slightly  con 
cave,  and  a  long,  irregularly  shaped  mass  of  stone  which  evidently  had  served  as  a 
grinder. 

A  mass  of  quart/.ite,  also  from  this  mound,  irregularly  pitted  in  two  places  on 
one  side,  has  on  the  opposite  side  a  circular  concavity  5.25  inches  in  diameter  and 
1  inch  in  depth. 

MOUNDS  ON  THE  WAMIC  PLACE,  WHITE  COUNTY. 

At  this  place,  in  full  view  from  the  river,  are  a  low  mound  on  which  is  a  small 
building,  and  two  small  rises  of  the  ground  in  a  field  nearby. 

The  owner  of  this  place  did  not  live  upon  it,  and  failed  to  reply  to  our  request 
for  permission  to  investigate. 

MOUNDS  ON  THE  HARALSON  PLACE,  WOODRUFF  COUNTY. 

On  property  of  Mr.  John  G.  Haralson,  of  Fitzhugh,  Ark.,  in  swamp  dry  at  the 
time  of  our  visit,  are  five  low,  flat-topped  mounds,  all  near  the  border  of  Buckle 
Lake,  a  former  course  of  White  river. 

These  mounds,  which  had  every  appearance  of  having  been  domiciliary,  were 
all  dug  into  by  us  without  discovery  of  anything  indicating  their  former  use  as 
places  of  burial. 

MOUNDS  ox  THE  HAWKINS   PLACE,  WOODRUFF  COUNTY. 
On  the  Hawkins  Place,  near  the  river,  are  two  low,  flat  mounds,  one  of  which 
is  now  in  use  as  a  cemetery.     These  mounds  were  not  investigated  by  us,  permis 
sion  to  dig  not  having  been  obtained. 

MOUND  ON  THE  VINCENT  PLACE,  WOODRUFF  COUNTY. 
About  one-quarter  mile  ESK.  from  Vincent  Landing  is  a  mound  about  2.5  feet 
high.      It  is  known  as  the  Hickory  Mound  throughout  the  surrounding  country. 
Conditions  were  imposed  as  to  opening  this  mound,  which  we  did  not  see  our  way 
clear  to  accept. 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS.  Sol 

Morxi)  o\  THE    HA.MES   PI.ACK,   WOODRUFF  COUNTY. 
Tlio    Harries    Place,  belonging  to  Mr.    and  Mrs.  W.  X.  Haines,  residing   on  the 

property,  has  a  history  of  human  hones  found  while   sinking  postholes  and  in   the 

course  of  agricultural  work.      In  the  garden  and  in  the  barnyard  is  raised  ground. 

apparently  what  is  left  of  a  ridge  or  of  a  low  mound.      The  soil  in  this  elevation  is 

black  from  admixture  of  organic  matter. 

Considerable  digging  in  the  garden  unearthed  six  skeletons  at  a  depth  of  from 

lo  inches  to  '2  feet  from  the  surface.     The  bones  were  in  bad  condition,  one  skull 

and  a  few  long-bones  only  being  saved. 

The  burials,  four  of  adults  and  two  of  children,  were  as  follows: 

Closely  flexed  on  the  right  side        .          .          .          .          .          .          .          4 

Partly  Hexed  on  the  right  side    ........     1 

Partly  flexed  on  the  left  side  ........          1 

With  one  skeleton  were  shell   beads  at  the  neck,  and  the  skeleton  of  a  child 

had  at   the  waist  a  pebble,  a  small  quantity  of  powdered  hematite,  and  discoidal 

beads  of  shell.     These  beads,  in  a  double  string,  had  been  worn  as  a  girdle. 

In  an  adjacent  field  are  a  few  small  elevations  on  most  of  which  were  masses 

of  baked  clay  bearing  imprint  of  wattle,  no  doubt   fragments  from  burnt  wigwams. 

Three  of  these  rises  of  the  ground  were  dug  into  by  us  without  success. 

THE  TKA<;TK  MOUND,  WoomuTF  COUNTY. 

The  Teague  Mound,  on  the  old  Snapp  Place,  belonging  to  Messrs.  Fit/.hugh 
Brothers  &  Haralson,  of  Fit/.hugh.  Ark.,  is  widely  known  on  White  river,  and  the 
fact  that  a  mound  of  this  size  is  famous  shows  how  unimportant  as  to  size  the 
mounds  on  this  river  are. 

The  Teague  Mound  is  in  the  form  of  a  ridge  (perhaps  a  mound  and  a  cause 
way)  210  feet  in  length,  extending  almost  due  N.  and  S.  From  the  southern 
extremity,  where  the  height  is  G  feet  and  the  breadth  oS  feet,  the  ridge  slopes 
gradually  upward  to  an  altitude  of  10  feet  at  the  northern  end.  where  it  is  1(10  feet 
in  transverse  measurement. 

This  mound,  which  has  su tiered  greatly  through  wash  of  rain,  has  every 
appearance  of  having  been  built  for  domiciliary  purposes.  Considerable  diggini: 
into  the  raw  clay  of  which  it  is  made  yielded  nothing. 

We  shall  now  consider  the  sites  on  Black  river. 

MOUXD  AND  CEMETERY  AT   KLGIX.  JACKSOX  COUNTY. 

About  one-quarter  mile  below  Elgin,  a  small  settlement  on  Black  river,  on  the 
same  side  of  the  stream,  immediately  on  the  bank,  is  a  mound  slightly  eaten  into 
by  the  river  and  much  spread  by  cultivation.  This  mound,  on  property  belonging 
to  Mr.  J.  0.  Taylor,  living  near  Newport,  Ark.,  is  but  little  above  the  general  level, 
and  is  circular  in  outline,  with  a  diameter  of  about  100  feet.  It  is  composed  of  rich, 
loamy  sand.  Considerable  digging  yielded  one  badly  decayed  skeleton,  closely 
Hexed  on  the  right  side. 


352  ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

In  cultivated  land,  also  belonging  to  Mr.  Taylor,  in  a  part  of  a  field  bordering 
the  wood,  about  -J50  yards  west  from  the  settlement,  in  rich  ground  somewhat  above 
the  general  level  of  the  field,  is  a  dwelling-site  having  on  the  surface  arrowpoints 
and  fragments  of  flint,  hamtnerstones,  and  debris  of  aboriginal  occupancy,  but 
almost  no  pottery. 

Twenty-one  trial-holes  sunk  in  this  site  came  upon  six  skeletons  seemingly  in 
good  condition  as  they  lay  in  the  ground,  but  which  on  removal  proved  to  be  friable 
and  on  the  point  of  disintegration.  All  skulls  had  given  way  through  decay  and 
pressure  of  the  soil. 

The  burials,  which  were  widely  scattered,  were  as  follows  : 

Closely  flexed  on  the  right  side  ....  1 
Partly  flexed  on  the  right  side  .  .  .  .1 
Closely  flexed  on  the  left  side  ....  1 
Partly  flexed  on  the  left  side  (a  child)  .  .  .1 
Aboriginal  disturbance  from  the  pelvis  down  .  1 
Infant  .........  1 

In  another  part  of  the  field,  somewhat  nearer  the  settlement,  was  a  slight  rise 
of  the  ground,  which  evidently  had  been  a  dwelling-site,  but  in  which  no  burials 
were  found  by  us. 

With  other  midden  refuse  were  three  disks  of  pottery,  each  having  a  perfora 
tion  in  the  center,  and  part  of  a  similar  disk. 

The  reputation  of  Elgin  as  a  site  where  human  bones  are  discovered  in  cultiva 
tion  is  rather  wide-spread.  The  territory  bordering  the  settlement  is  said  to  be  out 
of  reach  of  high  wrater  and  consequently  offered  to  the  aborigines  an  attractive 
place  of  abode.  Unfortunately  we  were  unable  to  find  other  dwelling-sites  in  the 
vicinity,  though  careful  search  wras  made. 

MOUNDS    NEAR    LlXDLEY    LANDING,    JACKSON    COUNTY. 

On  property  of  Dr.  L.  G.  Slaydon,  of  Tuckerman,  Ark.,  is  a  mound  in  a  culti 
vated  field,  about  one  mile  S.  by  W.  from  Lindley  Landing. 

The  mound,  of  clayey  sand,  has  been  greatly  spread  by  the  plow,  at  the 
the  expense  of  height,  which  is  now  5  feet.  The  diameter  of  the  irregularly  circular 
base  is  84  feet.  We  were  unable  to  find  in  this  mound  any  sign  of  its  having  been 
used  for  burial  purposes. 

About  one-half  mile  in  a  southerly  direction  from  Lindley  Landing  is  a  mound 
much  spread  by  the  plow,  also  in  a  cultivated  field,  belonging  to  Mr.  D.  C.  Dowell, 
of  Tuckerman.  This  mound,  irregularly  circular,  has  a  diameter  of  47  feet.  Its 
height  was  3  feet  above  the  general  level,  but  measured  from  the  summit  to  the 
base  while  digging  was  under  way,  the  height  seemed  to  be  somewhat  in  excess  of 
the  figure  named.  On  the  surface  of  the  mound  (which  was  almost  entirely  of 
sand)  were  many  small  fragments  of  human  bone. 

Trial-holes  at  once  came  upon  burials,  and  vessels  of  earthenware,  and  hence 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,   ARKANSAS.  353 

it  was  determined  to  dig  out  along  the  base  a  part  of  the  mound  42  feet  in  diame 
ter,  which  seemed  to  represent  its  original  si/e,  the  rest  of  the  present  diameter 
probably  being  due  to  cultivation. 

Burials,  all  badly  decayed,  were  found  in  forty-two  places,  from  just  below  the 
surface  to  a  depth  of  •!.•">  feet,  one  burial  being  in  a  pit  extending  10  inches  into 
yellow,  undisturbed  sand  which  lay  under  the  dark  sand  of  which  the  mound  was 
composed. 

In  many  .instances  the  form  of  interment  was  not  apparent  owing  to  the 
decayed  condition  of  the  bones  ;  occasionally,  however,  the  nature  of  the  burial 
could  be  identified,  and  included  the  burial  at  full  length  on  the  back  and  the 
Hexed  burial. 

There  were  also,  at  the  very  base  of  the  mound,  some  of  the  bones  of  a  single 
skeleton,  including  the  skull,  in  such  arrangement  that  no  form  of  burial  other  than 
the  bunched  variety  was  possible.  The  bunched  burial  was  met  with  by  us  in  this 
instance  only  on  White  and  Black  rivers. 

Four  and  one-half  feet  down  was  a  deposit  of  calcined  fragments  of  human 
bones,  12  inches  by  8  inches  and  2  inches  in  thickness.  Placed  vertically  on  this 
deposit  was  a  vessel  of  earthenware. 

In  another  part  of  the  mound  were  fragments  of  calcined  human  bones,  not 
arranged  in  a  mass  but  scattered.  With  this  burial  also,  was  an  earthenware  vessel. 
These  were  the  only  instances  of  cremation  encountered  by  us  along  White  and 
Black  rivers. 

Sixty-one  vessels  of  earthenware  lay  with  the  burials  in  this  mound,  almost 
invariably  near  the  skulls,  but  in  several  cases  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  pelvis. 
The  vessels  had  been  placed  singly,  in  pairs,  and  in  one  instance  three  together. 

These  sixty-one  vessels,1  all  of  medium  si/.e,  with  the  exception  of  several 
diminutive  ones  which  were  evidently  toys,  and  some  of  which  were  found  with 
skeletons  of  children,  are  of  inferior  ware.  Shell  tempering  is  present  in  some  in 
stances,  but  the  pounded  shell  is  often  unevenly  distributed,  and  the  firing  of  the 
clay  must  have  been  imperfectly  done.  Many  of  the  vessels  were  crushed  to  frag 
ments  when  found,  and  the  majority  of  the  remainder  fell  into  bits  on  removal. 

In  form  the  vessels,  save  in  two  instances  where  the  cup  is  represented,  are 
pots,  bowls,  and  bottles,  these  last  having  in  some  cases  short,  wide  necks,  and  in 
others  long  and  narrow  ones. 

With  a  single  exception,  that  of  a  cup  with  two  encircling,  incised  lines,  no 
attempt  at  decoration  is  apparent  on  the  body  of  any  vessel.  A  number  of  pots 
and  bowls  have  loop-handles;  and  a  few  have  projecting  animal  heads  so  rudely 
modeled  that  they  barely  escape  being  classed  as  knobs.  On  such  vessels  are  con 
ventional  tails  extending  from  the  sides  opposite  the  heads.  Three  or  four  of  the 
bowls  have  small,  Mat  ears  extending  laterally;  these  ears,  in  the  case  of  one  vessel, 
are  decorated  with  rude,  parallel,  incised  lines.  Two  or  three  of  the  loop-handle 
vessels  have  small,  vertical  projections  on  the  sides  not  occupied  by  the  handles. 

1  Each  vessel,  no  matter  how  fragmentary  its  condition  when  found,  is  included  in  the  enunn-ra- 
tion,  our  object,  being  to  note  what  number  originally  had  been  placed  in  the  mound  by  the  aborigines. 

45  JOURX.  A.  X.  S.   1'HILA.,  Vol..  XIV. 


354  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS.    WHITE, 

No  attempt  at  decoration  in  color  is  anywhere  shown. 

We  are  fully  aware  that  in  mounds  and  cemeteries  vessels  commonplace  in 
form  and  decoration  predominate,  but  we  do  not  recall  in  any  previous  investiga 
tion  in  which  any  considerable  number  of  vessels  was  found,  having  met  with  pot 
tery  which  indicated  such  lack  of  skill  or  ambition  on  the  part  of  its  makers. 

A  ring  of  earthenware,  possibly  an  ear-plug,  rudely  wrought,  with  an  encir 
cling  groove,  was  found  apart  from  human  remains. 

The  only  artifact  present  in  the  mound,  with  the  exception  of  pottery,  was  a 
single  arrowhead  of  Hint. 

In  the  same  field  in  which  was  Mr.  Do  well's  mound,  and  about  one-quarter 
mile  in  a  southwesterly  direction  from  it,  was  a  slight  rise  in  the  ground,  circular 
in  shape,  which  at  one  time  may  have  been  a  small  mound.  On  the  surface  lay 
fragments  of  human  bones  and  two  beads  of  shell.  Fourteen  trial-holes  came  upon 
a  disintegrating  skeleton  lying  partly  Hexed  on  the  right  side,  10  inches  below  the 
surface.  At  the  skull  was  an  undecorated  bowl  of  inferior  ware. 

In  a  field  about  one  mile  to  the  north  of  the  Dowell  Place  are  several  dwelling- 
sites  on  which  were  arrowpoints,  fragments  of  Hint,  and  other  midden  debris, 
including  parts  of  two  earthenware  disks,  each  of  which  had  possessed  a  central 
perforation. 

MOUND  NEAR  PEHKIXS'  FIELD,  INDEPENDENCE  COUNTY. 

About  one-half  mile  through  woods,  in  a  NW.  direction  from  Perkins'  Field, 
which  is  near  the  river  bank,  is  a  mound  on  property  belonging  to  the  Barnett 
Lumber  Company,  of  Batesville,  Ark.  This  mound,  of  rich,  black  loam,  circular 
in  outline  and  about  85  feet  in  diameter,  has  a  height  of  3  feet,  approximately. 

It  is  not  a  burial  mound,  strictly  speaking,  that  is,  it  is  not  a  mound  built 
exclusively  for  burial  purposes,  but  rather  a  dwelling-site  wrhich  formed  gradually 
during  long  occupancy  and  in  which  the  dead  had  been  interred. 

Ten  trial-holes,  which  were  subsequently  enlarged,  some  to  double  and  some 
to  almost  treble  their  original  si/.e,  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  thirty-one  burials  of 
the  customary  closely-Hexed  or  partly-Hexed  forms,  and  a  few  aboriginal  disturb 
ances  which,  the  reader  will  recall,  are  caused  by  graves  in  aboriginal  times  being 
dug  through  earlier  burials. 

The  interments  lay  from  8  inches  below  the  surface  to  a  depth  somewhat  more 
than  3  feet,  the  deepest  being  not  in  the  mound  proper  but  beneath  it,  in  tenaci 
ous  clay  on  which  the  mound  was  built. 

The  bones  of  all  these  burials  were  badly  decayed.  With  them  were:  a  lance- 
point  of  Hint ;  several  masses  of  stone  ;  a  lot  of  Hint  chips  somewhat  scattered,  which 
may  have  been  simply  midden  refuse  lying  in  the  neighborhood  of  bones. 

There  was  also  with  a  burial  a  pipe  of  soft  claystone,  1.8  inches  long  and  l.o 
inches  in  diameter,  having  a  hole  in  the  base  in  such  a  position  that  a  stem  inserted  in 
it  would  have  the  bowl  not  at  risrht  angles  but  extendin":  in  the  same  axis  with  it. 


AND    BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS.  305 

Here  and  there  in  the  soil,  apart  from  burials,  were  a  number  of  arrowpoints 
and  knives,  all  of  Hint,  and  all  rather  eoar.sely  chipped  and  lacking  in  finish.  Also 
in  the  midden  debris  were  :  hammer-stones ;  a  circular  pebble,  pitted  on  both  sides; 
and  four  piercing  implements  of  bone,  one,  5.8  inches  in  length,  double-pointed,  and 
very  neatly  made. 

LlTTI.K     Tl'KKKV     IIll.I.,     IXDKI'KNDKXCK     COUNTV. 

Little  Turkey  Hill,  as  this  mound  is  locally  known,  is  on  property  belonging  to 
the  Barnett  Land  Company,  who  also  are  the  owners  of  the  Perkins'  Field  mound. 

Little  Turkey  Hill  is  most  conveniently  reached  by  going  up  Strawberry  river 
about  one  mile  to  a  log  landing  and  then  proceeding  inland  another  mile  approxi 
mately  in  a  westerly  direction,  through  the  woods. 

The  "  Hill,"  in  woods  said  to  be  subject  to  overflow,  irregularly  circular  in  out 
line,  is  of  dark  loam  and  is  of  the  same  character  as  is  the  mound  near  Perkins' 
Field.  The  diameter  of  Little  Turkey  Hill  is  120  feet;  its  height,  a  little  more 
than  3  feet.  A  hole  about  7  feet  by  18  feet,  about  in  the  center  of  the  mound,  had 
been  made  previous  to  our  visit. 

Fifteen  trial-holes,  some  of  which  were  greatly  enlarged  in  the  form  of  trenches 
extending  along  the  base  of  the  mound,  came  upon  eighteen  burials  from  a  few 
inches  to  a  trifle  more  than  3  feet  in  depth.  These  burials  lay  some  closely  Hexed, 
some  partly  Hexed,  on  the  right  side  and  on  the  left  side.  There  were  several 
aboriginal  disturbances  of  skeletons. 

No  bones  were  in  a  condition  to  save. 

Superficially  few,  if  any,  fragments  of  pottery  were  seen,  and,  while  digging, 
almost  none  were  encountered.  Several  very  roughly  made  arrowheads  or  knives 
lay  in  the  soil,  apart  from  burials. 

With  a  burial,  at  the  right  elbow,  were  a  rude  flint  knife  and  three  fragments 
of  Hint,  and  the  inverted  carapace  of  a  tortoise;  and  these  were  the  only  artifacts 
round  with  burials,  with  the  exception  of  those  in  a  grave-pit  about  to  be  described. 

In  this  pit.  near  together,  were  five  skeletons  of  adults.  One  lay  about  30 
inches  down  (the  measurement  being  taken  to  the  upper  surface  of  the  skeleton  as 
it  lay),  while  the  other  four  were  38  inches  down,  in  clay  beneath  the  mound  proper. 
All  these  five  burials  had  accompanying  artifacts,  a  noteworthy  fact  in  view  of  the 
paucity  of  such  deposits  in  other  parts  of  the  mound. 

Burial  No.  7,  closely  Hexed  on  the  right  side,  had.  at  the  neck,  a  considerable 
number  of  discoidal  beads  of  such  diameter  that  it  is  apparent  they  must  have  been 
made  from  the  axis  of  a  marine  shell.  Moreover,  their  structure  is  of  a  density  to 
indicate  their  origin  from  the  columella  of  a  large  ocean  shell  rather  than  from  a 
river  shell,  which,  having  less  solidity  of  material,  tends  to  disintegrate. 

With  these  discoidal  beads,  which  are  remarkably  well  preserved,  were  many 
other  beads  made  by  grinding  down  parts  of  small  fresh-water  shells  (Ancnlosa),  a 
varietv  related  to  A.  prterosn*  which  latter  shells  have  not  been  reported  hitherto 
west  of  the  Mississippi. 


356  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS.    WHITE, 

With  all  these  beads,  and  no  doubt  used  as  central  ornaments,  were  two  barrel- 
shaped  beads,  one  of  claystone,  one  of  red  jasper,  each  about  .8  inch  in  length. 

Burial  No.  16,'  closely  Hexed  on  the  left  side,  had  many  shell  beads  extending 
from  the  chin  to  the  pelvis,  most  of  them  very  badly  decayed,  as  was  the  case  with 
the  shell  beads  found  with  four  of  the  five  skeletons  in  this  grave. 

With  the  ordinary  beads  along  with  Burial  No.  10  was  a  considerable  number 
of  other  beads,  in  a  better  state  of  preservation,  made  by  suitably  grinding  a  small 
river  shell  (Ncritina  lincolatd}. 

Evidently  as  a  central  piece  with  the  beads  with  Burial  No.  1C  was  a  curious 
tube  of  claystone.  2.">  inches  in  length  and  .7  inch  in  diameter,  the  diameter  of  the 
hole  being  .4  inch.  At  intervals  over  the  outer  surface  of  this  bead  were  semi- 
perforations  made  with  a  pointed  drill,  as  is  indicated  by  the  absence  of  cores  and 
the  presence  of  a  deeper  central  part  in  each  semi-perforation.  That  this  bead  at 
one  time  had  been  of  greater  length  is  shown  by  the  presence  at  one  end,  of  two 
remaining  halves  of  these  markings  left  by  a  drill. 

Burial  No.  17,  lying  closely  flexed  on  the  right  side,  had  a  number  of  shell 
beads  with  which  were  two  tubular  beads  of  jasper,  one  red,  the  other  yellow  with 
a  mingling  of  red,  1.2  inch  and  .8  in  length  respectively,  both  highly  polished. 

Below  the  chin  was  a  small  drinking-cup  wrought  from  a  marine  shell ;  and 
with  the  concave  side  against  the  skull  was  a  badly  decayed  shell  drinking-cup 
bearing  incised  decoration  of  a  rather  rude  character  (Figs.  73,  74.  see  p.  357). 

A  drinking-cup  of  shell  from  Harrisburg,  Ark.,2  with  engraved  exterior  decora 
tion,  is  shown  in  Plate  XXIII  of  the  Second  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of 
Ethnology. 

With  the  two  remaining  burials  in  this  grave  were  shell  beads  only,  which,  as 
we  have  said,  were  badly  affected  by  decay. 

HAKTER  KNOLL,  IXDEPENDKNCK  COUNTY. 

The  landing  on  Strawberry  river,  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  has  two 
roads  leading  from  it,  one  of  which  we  followed  to  reach  Little  Turkey  Hill. 

By  going  out  the  other  road,  which  pursues  a  W.  by  N.  course,  about  one  mile 
through  the  woods,  one  comes  to  Harter  Knoll,  which  is  immediately  on  the  left 
side  of  the  road. 

The  Knoll,  as  it  is  called  in  the  neighborhood,  though  it  is  of  artificial  origin, 
being  of  the  same  class  of  mounds  as  are  the  one  near  Perkins'  Field,  and  Little 
Turkey  Hill,  is  under  the  same  ownership  as  are  these  two  mounds.  It  is  3.-") 
feet  in  height  and  115  feet,  approximately,  across  its  circular  base,  and  is  made 
of  rich,  dark  soil,  scattered  through  which  we  found  hammer-stones,  a  few  bits  of 
pottery,  and  other  midden  debris.  Thirteen  very  rude  arrowpoints  and  knives 
were  encountered  also  apart  from  human  remains. 

1  Burials  are  numbered  in  the  order  of  their  discovery  and  not  according  to  proximity. 
•  About  forty  miles  in  a  straight  line  from  where  our  cup  was  found. 
'"'  William  H.  Holmes,  "Art  in  Shell  of  the  Ancient  Americans." 


AND   BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS. 


357 


p  >*&3 

V 


&     --^ 


Fid.  7.'i. — Shell  drinkiiiR-cup  with  engraved  decoration.      With  Burial  N~c>.  17.      Little  Turkey  Hill.       (  Length  9.2  indies.; 


FIG.  74. — Shell  cup.     Decoration.       Due-third  size.) 


358  ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

Thirteen  trial-holes,  some  of  which  were  enlarged,  came  upon  twenty-one 
burials,  all  so  badly  decayed  that  no  bones  could  be  saved.  These  burials  lay  from 
near  the  surface  to  the  very  base  of  the  mound,  and  in  form  were  similar  to  the 
others  found  in  this  region,  namely,  the  flexed  burial.  Likewise  among  the  burials 
were  several  aboriginal  disturbances,  and  also  recent  disturbances  where  pestholes 
for  the  supports  of  a  house  that  formerly  had  been  upon  the  mound,  and  where 
small  holes,  probably  dug  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  house,  had  disarranged  parts  of 
burials.  Into  these  holes,  which  subsequently  had  been  filled  but  which  were  still 
clearly  traceable  in  the  mound,  recent  material  had  fallen,  such  as  bits  of  iron,  a 
fragment  of  glass,  and  the  like. 

If  we  exclude  a  rude  arrowhead  of  flint  found  near  the  left  elbow  of  a  skeleton, 
which  may  have  had  an  accidental  proximity,  artifacts  were  present  with  but  three 
burials,  as  follows  : 

Burial  No.  7,  a  skeleton  of  an  adolescent,  lying  closely  flexed  on  the  left  side, 
had  some  beads  of  shell  near  the  pelvis  or  perhaps  associated  with  wrist  bones  which 
were  near  by. 

With  Burial  No.  18,  an  aboriginal  disturbance,  was  a  banner-stone  of  alteied 
igneous  rock,  1.8  inches  in  length,  in  form  resembling  a  prism,  triangular  with 
rounded  corners.  This  banner-stone,  when  found,  lay  near  the  knee  of  the  skeleton, 
though  probably  its  position  there  may  be  accounted  for  by  a  disturbance  which  the 
skeleton  had  undergone. 

Burial  No.  20,  lying  closely  flexed  on  the  right  side,  had  shell  beads  near  the 
pelvis  and  similar  beads  which  apparently  had  gone  around  the  neck  and  which 
included  two  tubular  beads  of  claystone,  each  about  1.25  inch  in  length. 

MOUNDS  NEAR  TUCKER  BAY,  LAWHEXCE  COUNTY. 

Near  a  part  of  a  former  course  of  the  river,  known  as  Tucker  Bay.  and  about 
one  mile  in  a  southwesterly  direction  from  Clover  Bend,  in  woods  on  property  of 
Messrs.  F.  W.  Tucker  &  Co.,  of  Clover  Bend,  is  a  mound  5  feet  in  height  and  47 
feet  across  the  base.  This  mound,  of  clay,  had  been  dug  into  to  some  extent  previ 
ous  to  our  visit.  Owing  to  the  presence  of  trees  and  the  need  to  keep  the  mound 
intact  for  the  use  of  stock  in  times  of  high  water,  a  central  portion  only,  having  a 
diameter  of  25  feet,  was  removed  and  subsequently  replaced. 

In  the  portion  dug  by  us  were  found  eighteen  burials,  of  which  no  fewer  than 
nine  were  of  children,  including  infants.  Thirteen  burials  la}'  closely  flexed,  eight 
on  the  right  side  and  live  on  the  left.  One  was  partly  flexed  on  the  right  side  ;  the 
form  of  burial  of  three  was  not  determined  owing  to  their  decayed  condition;  and 
one  was  a  recent  disturbance. 

The  burials  lay  from  near  the  surface  to  the  base,  one  even  being  in  a  grave 
extending  10  inches  into  the  clay  underlying  the  mound.  Curiously  enough,  while 
the  bones  of  all  other  burials  found  by  us  in  this  mound  wrere  so  decayed  that  their 
preservation  was  out  of  the  question,  the  bones  of  this  skeleton  (Burial  No.  12)  were 
in  fairly  good  condition,  though  the  skull,  unfortunately,  was  crushed. 


AND   BLACK    RIVERS.   ARKANSAS.  359 

Six  vessels  of  earthenware  came  from  this  mound. 

One  from  near  the  surface  apparently  was  not  associated  with  human  remains. 
Its  body,  hemispherical,  is  surmounted  by  a  short,  slightly  everted  neck.  The  ware 
is  inferior  and  no  decoration  is  present. 

Another  vessel,  or  large  part  of  a  vessel,  had  been  decorated  with  deep,  par 
allel,  encircling  lines;  two  loop-handles  were  on  opposite  sides  below  the  rim. 

With  a  burial  were  fragments  of  an  undecorated  vessel  of  poor  ware,  having 
loop-handles;  and  with  another  burial,  which  had  a  few  shell  beads  at  the  neck, 
were  two  vessels  near  the  skull.  One  of  these,  undecorated.  was  in  many  small, 
disintegrating  fragments.  The  other,  badly  broken  and  of  soft,  inferior  ware,  had 
been  a  bottle  with  the  head  of  an  owl  forming  the  neck.  The  modeling  is  rude; 
the  horns  of  the  bird  are  missing  through  breakage.  There  are  traces  of  red  paint 
in  places  on  the  vessel. 

Another  burial  had  fragments  of  an  undecorated  pot.  lying  near  the  skull. 

Burial  No.  '2,  closely  flexed  on  the  left  side,  had,  back  of  the  spine,  a  mass  of 
calcite  wrought  in  the  form  of  a  cone  4.5  inches  in  length. 

Not  in  connection  with  burials,  though  possibly  at  one  time  they  may  have 
been  so,  were  a  rude  arrowhead  of  white  Hint,  a  "celt"  of  medium  size,  and  a  gouge 
(i  inches  in  length.  The  two  latter  objects  were  presented  by  us  to  the  owners  of 
the  mound. 

Two  small,  Hat  mounds  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  one  just  described  were  dug 
into  by  us  without  success. 

MOUXDS    NEAR    CLOVER    BEND,    LAWRENCE    CoUNTV. 

About  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in  a  southerly  direction  from  Clover  Bend,  in 
woods,  but  immediately  on  the  border  of  a  cultivated  field,  is  a  mound  about  7  feet 
in  height  and  60  feet  in  diameter,  on  property  of  Messrs.  F.  W.  Tucker  &  Co.. 
whose  mounds  near  Tucker  Bay  have  just  been  described. 

This  mound  had  been  dug  into  extensively  prior  to  our  coming.  No  bones  or 
fragments  of  pottery  were  to  be  seen  in  the  material  thrown  out  from  previous  ex 
cavations  or  in  the  holes. 

When  nine  trial-holes  had  been  sunk  by  us  to  depths  between  3  and  5  feet 
without  encountering  bone  or  artifact,  further  search  was  deemed  unnecessary. 

Three  other  small,  Hat  mounds  in  the  neighborhood  yielded  nothing  to  indicate 
other  than  a  domiciliary  use. 

Mnl'NDS    NEAR     LAURATOWN.    LAWRENCE    CofNTY. 

In  a  field  of  the  Lauratown  Farm,  which  belongs  to  Mrs.  John  K.  dibson,  of 
Black  Rock,  Ark.,  about  200  yards  from  the  river,  are  six  mounds  extending  about 
one-half  mile  in  a  straight  line  in  a  southerly  direction  from  Lauratown  Landing. 

These  mounds,  ranging  in  height  from  '2  to  10  feet,  have  been  greatly  spread 
by  long-continued  cultivation.  No  fragment  of  human  bone  or  of  pottery  was 
apparent  on  their  surfaces. 


360  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

All  were  dug  into  by  us  to  a  considerable  extent.  In  one  was  a  .skull  in  decay 
ing  fragments,  near  the  surface,  and  in  another  part  of  the  mound  was  an  un- 
decorated  bottle  of  shell-tempered  ware  (as  was  all  the  ware  found  by  us  on  the 
Lauratown  Farm),  having  a  stone  pitted  on  each  side  over  the  opening  where  a 
neck  formerly  had  been. 

In  another  of  these  mounds  were  fragments  of  a  skull  associated  with  a  pot 
and  a  bottle,  both  undecorated,  each  having  parts  missing. 

About  one-quarter  mile  in  a  southerly  direction  from  this  series  of  mounds  is 
another,  3  feet  in  height  and  -50  feet  in  diameter,  also  greatly  extended  by  cultiva 
tion.  On  its  surface  were  numerous  bits  of  pottery,  and  we  were  informed  that 
vessels  had  been  taken  from  this  mound.  If  such  is  the  case,  the  mound  presum 
ably  had  been  a  domiciliary  one  with  superficial  burials,  all  of  which  were  removed 
by  former  diggers  or  else  by  cultivation,  for  all  that  rewarded  our  search,  which 
was  a  thorough  one,  were  fragments  of  an  undecorated  vessel  with  loop-handles. 

The  southernmost  field  of  the  farm,  which  adjoins  the  field  in  which  is  the 
mound  last  described,  is  thickly  strewn  with  midden  debris,  including  great  quanti 
ties  of  pottery  in  small  fragments,  none  of  which,  however,  bears  decoration  of  any 
interest,  with  the  exception  of  several  bits  colored  bright  red. 

From  the  surface  of  this  field  was  gathered  a  considerable  collection  of  arrow 
heads  and  small  chisels,  some  neatly  made.  There  was  also  picked  up  an  ear-plug  of 
pottery  of  a  well-known  form,  namely,  that  of  a  pin  with  thick  body  and  large  head. 

In  the  southern  part  of  the  field,  where  debris  lay  thickest,  nine  trial-holes 
were  put  down  without  result  in  a  slight  rise  of  the  ground  which  it  was  hoped 
might  prove  to  be  a  cemetery. 

Forty  trial-holes,  some  of  which  were  considerably  enlarged,  were  sunk  in  the 
extreme  southwestern  corner  of  this  field,  and  came  upon  four  burials  which  were, 
with  one  exception,  so  widely  apart,  and  were  accompanied  by  artifacts  of  so  little 
interest,  that  the  digging  was  discontinued. 

In  a  pit,  about  2  feet  down,  lay  a  skeleton  at  full  length  on  the  back,  whose 
lower  extremities  had  displaced  the  upper  part  of  a  skeleton  also  originally  ex 
tended.  With  this  latter  burial  was  a  rude,  asymmetrical,  wide-mouthed  water- 
bottle  without  decoration,  and  2  feet  from  it  a  bottle  which  had  beer  turned  on  its 
side  at  the  time  of  the  disarrangement  of  the  burial  to  which  it  belonged.  This 
bottle,  undecorated,  with  a  long  and  slightly  Haring  neck,  was  carelessly  made, 
being  irregular  in  form  as  to  both  body  and  neck.  On  the  right  shoulder  and  chest  of 
the  disturbing  burial  was  a  rude  bowl  whose  sole  decoration  was  a  series  of  notches 
placed  obliquely  around  the  rirn. 

Another  burial,  an  adult  at  full  length  on  the  back,  was  without  artifact. 

The  skeleton  of  a  child,  somewhat  disarranged  by  a  blow  from  a  spade  in  the 
hands  of  one  of  our  diggers,  had  at  the  skull  a  pot  and  a  bowl,  both  small.  The 
bowl  bears  traces  of  red  pigment  inside  and  out.  The  pot  has  two  loop-handles  at 
opposite  sides,  and  vertical,  notched  fillets  opposed  to  each  other,  above  one  of  which 
are  two  slight  projections  of  the  rim,  while  the  other  has  but  a  single  one. 


AND   BLACK    RIVERS,    ARKANSAS.  361 

All  vessels  from  this  place  seemingly  were  the  work  of  potters  without  artistic 
ambition  and  lacking  in  care  or  skill. 

MOUND  NKAR  CORXPEX  LANDING,  LAWRKXCK  COUXTY. 

This  mound,  about  one  mile  in  an  ESE.  direction  from  (Jornpen  Landing,  the 
property  of  Mr.  Clay  Sloan,  of  Black  Rock,  Ark.,  shows  no  traces  of  the  plow.  Its 
height  is  •">  feet  3  inches ;  its  diameter,  4")  feet.  The  sides  are  comparatively  steep, 
giving  the  mound  the  appearance  of  a  cone  truncated  near  the  base.  In  the  sum 
mit-plateau  are  two  comparatively  recent  graves. 

Nine  trial-holes,  extending  to  the  base  of  the  mound,  were  without  result,  save 
in  one  instance.  Eighteen  inches  from  the  surface,  below  the  central  part  of  the 
summit-plateau,  was  an  ornament  of  sheet-copper,  4.3  inches  by  3.8  inches,  having 
a  central  concavo-convex  boss  surrounded  by  a  circle  of  depressions,  which  had 
been  placed  upon  a  human  skull  lying  face  upward,  and  had  preserved  parts  of  the 
upper  and  lower  jaws  with  their  teeth,  which  were  stained  bright  green.  No  trace 
of  the  remainder  of  the  skull  was  evident,  and  presumably  all  other  parts  of  the 
burial,  which  probably  had  been  that  of  a  child,  judging  from  the  teeth,  had  disap 
peared  through  decay. 

The  trial-holes  in  this  mound  covered  it  fairly  well,  and  presumably  no  other 
burials  were  in  it.  though  it  is  impossible  to  say  if  originally  there  had  been  but  a 
single  central  burial,  or  if  a  number  of  other  burials  had  been  in  the  mound,  all  of 
which  had  gone  without  leaving  a  trace  of  bone  behind,  though  in  this  latter  event 
one  might  have  expected  to  find  some  artifact. 

In  three  places  in  the  field  in  which  the  mound  was,  where  the  soil  seemed 
dark  and  debris  of  aboriginal  occupancy  lay  upon  the  surface  to  a  limited  extent, 
unsuccessful  digging  was  done  by  us. 

MOUNDS  ox  THE  UPPER  HOVEY  PLACE,  RANDOLPH  COUNTY. 

In  woods,  on  the  banks  of  a  "lake,"  or  former  course  of  the  river,  about  one- 
quarter  mile  northeasterly  from  the  landing  on  the  Upper  Hovey  Place,  the  property 
of  Mr.  G.  H.  Hovey,  of  Poeahontas,  Ark.,  are  two  small  mounds,  the  larger  less 
than  4  feet  in  height  and  about  40  feet  in  diameter.  In  this  mound,  almost  entirely 
dug  out  previous  to  our  visit,  were  sunk  by  us  a  number  of  trial-holes  in  places  left 
by  former  digging.  No  results  were  obtained  except  to  find  several  small  fragments 
of  human  bones  in  material  thrown  out  from  earlier  holes. 

The  smaller  mound  was  investigated  by  us  without  success. 

CEMETERY  NEAR  MITCHELL'S  LOG-CAMP  LANDING,  RANDOLPH  COUXTY. 
About  1.5  mile  in  a  northerly  direction  through  the  woods  from  Mitchell's 
Log-camp  Landing,  is  the  house  of  Mr.  William  Anderson.  In  an  enclosure  adjoin 
ing  his  house,  used  for  the  cultivation  of  flowers  and  vegetables,  bones  had  been 
brought  to  light  in  the  course  of  cultivation.  Some  digging  had  been  done  by 
members  of  the  family. 

46  JOURN.  A.  N.  S.  1'HILA.,  VOL.  XIV. 


302  ANTIQUITIES   OF    THE    ST.    FRANCIS,    WHITE, 

Many  trial-holes  sunk  by  us  yielded  two  skeletons  of  adults,  both  closely 
flexed,  one  on  the  right  side,  the  other  on  the  left.  There  were  found  also  dis 
turbed  bones  belonging  to  the  skeleton  of  an  adult  and  to  one  of  a  child. 

At  this  point,  owing  to  ill  success  and  on  the  assurance  of  our  agent,  who  as 
we  have  said,  had  searched  the  territory  for  us  in  advance,  that  the  region  to  the 
northward  was  not  more  promising  than  that  we  had  been  over,  we  abandoned 
further  search  on  Black  river. 


INDEX. 

ANTIQUITIES  OF  THE  ST.   FRANCIS,  WI1ITK.  AND  i'.LACK  KIVKRS.  ARKANSAS 


Analvsis  of  copper.  258.  273. 
Arrowheads    of     deer    antler,     2 '.8. 

33«.  33-'- 
Arrowheads  of   deer  antler   mimer- 

ous- in  St.   Francis  region,  331. 
Arrowhead^  of  Hint.  205.  208.  273. 

274.  280.  284.  280.  307.  311.  31-'. 

327,  330.  332.  345,  340.  35-'-  354. 

355.  35s-  35<>.  360- 
Arrowheads.      shapes     ot,     on      St. 

Francis   river.   -'74.   -'So.  330. 
Artifacts    seldom    placed    with    the 
dead,  on   White  and   I '.lack  rivers. 


Asymmetrical  pottery  of  St.  Fran 
cis  region,  examples  of,  317-  3">- 

Atkinson    Ferry,  mounds  near,  341). 

Axes.  chisel-shaped,  ceremonial, 
from  White  river.  345. 

Halls  of  earthenware,  probably 
used  in  a  game.  271).  308. 

Banner-stone,  358. 

Hay    Ferry,  mound  near,  270. 

Heads  of  bone.  207.  208,  273,  282, 
286,  311,  312,  331.  332. 

Heads  of  claystone.  350.  358. 

Heads  of  copper,  273.  280.  311.  330. 

1  leads  of  jasper.  351 1. 

Heads  of  <hell,  _>(>8.  272,  273,  274, 
280.  2X1.  2X2.  283.  284.  285,  286, 
307,  308,  301),  311,  3 1«).  321,  322, 
320.  327.  330,  331.  332.  341.  346, 

35  '•  354.  355-  35°-  35<s-  35"- 
I  leads     of    shell,    with  carved   line 

decoration.    331. 
Hear,   canine   tooth   of.   perforated, 

31  '•  3")- 
T.ig  Eddy,  cemetery  near.  2ot). 

Uoat-stones  irom  Chandler  mounds, 

White    river.    345,    340,  348. 
I'.oat-stone     of     rock     crystal.    ^4^, 

348. 

Hone  comb,   285. 

Homier  I'lace.  mound  on,  201). 

Hrown,  Charles  I-".,  as  to  boat- 
stones.  348. 

Hunched  burial  met  with  but  once 
on  White  and  Hlack  rivers.  353. 

Hnrial.  forms  of.  on  the  St.  Fran 
cis.  251).  203.  2(14,  20').  207.  272, 
278,  304,  30(1.  307,  310.  318.  319, 
324.  320.  330.  332.  333. 

I  Ju rial,  forms  of.  on  White  and 
I '.lack  rivers,  341,  342,  349,  .350. 

35'-  35-'.  353.  354.  355-  358. 


Hurials    at    different    period--    in    St. 
Francis   sites.  27^,  277.    }io.    }jo. 
Castile    I'lace.   266. 
(  atlish   mounds,   317. 
Ceremonial  axes,  as  to.  34''. 
Ceremonial  axes  trom  White  river, 

345- 

Chandler  Landing,  mound-  near. 341 . 
Chisels  of  Hint.  2(18,  j8o.  jSr,.  312. 

320.  333.  360. 
i. 'lime,  Arthur  W..  250. 
Cloud   symbols.   270.   2t)2.   300,   301, 

,3'4.   315.   331- 

Clover    Hend,  mounds  near,   351). 
Comb  of  bone.  285. 
Comb     of     horn.     post-Columbian. 

from    Florida.  28^. 
Compartment  vessels.  2117.  300. 
Compound   form  of  vessel,  interest - 

ing,  300.  308. 
(One  of  red   pigment,  286. 
('ones    of    earthenware,     271).    28'). 

308,   312,  320. 
Copper.     258.    273.    280.    282.  283, 

284.  307.  311.  3 it).  321.  327,  330. 

361. 

(  opper,  analysis  of.  258.  273. 
Copper  beads.  273,  280,  311,  3311. 
Copper  object    resembling   a   lance. 

282. 
Copper   ornaments.    283,    284.    307, 

3-'  i-  3f"- 

(  opper  spearhead,  ceremonial.  283. 
Cornpen  Landing,  mound  near.  301. 
Cremation  met  with  at  but  one  place. 

on  White  and    I 'lack  rivers.  3^3. 
Cremation  on  the  St.   Francis.  251), 

310,  318,  319.  325. 
Crystal,     rock,    boat-stone  of.    ^40. 

348. 

Cummings  I'lace.  cemetery  on.  326. 
Data,  exact,  as  to  fifty  burials  from 

Rose  mound,  287.  288.  281). 
Deposits  with   the  tlead.   251). 
Digging,      much      previous,     in    St. 

Francis  sites.  251). 
Discoidal     stones.     280,     281.     282. 

284,  286,  307.  320. 
Disks     of     pottery,    2(8.  276,  271), 

282,  284,  285.  308.  312.  320.  327, 

33';    352,    354. 

Drinking-cup  of  shell,  with  engrav 
ed  decoration.  350. 

Drum-fish,     pharyngeal     teeth    of, ; 
3"- 


Far-plug-      of      earthenware,      270, 

308.  312.  327.  331.  354. 
Far  plug-    of    -hell.    275.    281.    282. 

-83.  284.  285,  28(1.  31  xt,  311.  3ii|. 

321 .  320,  331,  31.0. 
Ear-plugs      of     shell,    with   perfora 
tions.    282. 
Farthcnware  of  St.   Francis  region. 

remarks  on.  200. 
Earthenware  of  St.  Francis  region. 

shell    tempered.    200. 
F.arthcmvare      supports     for   use   in 

(ires,  28:1.  281.  30.8,  311).  327. 
F.tt'.gy.      diminutive,      placed      with 

burial  of  infant.  323. 
Fftigy      \e--els.    human,     J*).   21,13. 

-"'7.   3()S-  3 '4-  3-3- 

F.lgin.  mound  and  cemetery  at.  351. 

Engraved  decoration  on  drinking- 
cup  of  shell,  350. 

Fvcfs.  Dr.  Edward.  308. 

Farabee.   Dr.   W.   (.'.,'281. 

Fish  effigy  vessel  of  exceptional  ex 
cellence.  21)4. 

Fish-form,  highly  conventionalized, 

3J4- 

Fish,  series  showing  convention 
alizing  of  bowls  representing. 

333-  334-  335- 

Forrest    I'lace,   cemetery  on.   203. 
Fortune  mounds.  324. 
Fre-h-water    shells   ground    for   use 

as    head-.    355,    350. 
(iorgeN  of  -hell,  280,  311,  320.  321, 

322. 

<  iourd.   \e--el   in    form  of.  21)4. 
1  lames   I'lace.  mound  on,  351. 
llaralson    I'lace,    mounds    on,    3^0. 
I  larter   Knoll.   35(1. 
llawkins    I'lace.  mounds  on,  350. 
I  lead   vessels,   21)5.   297. 
I  lead   ve-sel-.   where   found,   21)5. 
Hematite,   ball   of,   281. 
Hodge.   F.  W.,  250. 
Holmes.     I'rof.     William    II.,    2^1. 

21.1.  2<)5.  301.  320,  326,  32t).  356. 
Hrdlicka.    Dr.   Ales,   256. 
Human  figure  painted  in  bowl.  202. 
Implements  of  Ixine.  268,  273,  274. 

280.  284.  308.  312,  319,  327,  331. 

332,  355- 
Introduction,  255. 
Jones    and   I'.orum  Places,  307. 
Keller,   Dr.    H.    R.   256,   258,    273. 

3I9- 


364 


INDEX. 


Kilns  for  pottery,  280. 

King's     Landing,    cemeteries  near, 

341- 

Knives  of  flint,  280,  286,  355. 
Lance,  copper  object  resembling  a, 

282. 

Lauratown,  mounds  near,  359. 
Leaf-shaped  blade  of  flint,  345. 
Lindley  Landing,  mounds  near,  352. 
Lindsay    Place,    mounds   on,    325. 
Lindsay's  Point,  cemetery  at,  348. 
Little  Turkey  Hill,  355. 
Loaf-shaped  objects  of  pottery,  280. 
Log  Landing,  mounds  near,  324. 
Lucas,  Prof.  F.  A.,  256,  262,  285. 

3ii- 
Map,    parts    of    White  and   Black 

rivers,  338. 
Map.  St.  Francis  and  Little  rivers, 

257- 

Map,  White.  Black,  Current,  St. 
Francis  and  Little  rivers,  254. 

Marine  shells  used  as  beads,  273, 
327,  331. 

Miller,  Dr.  M.  G.,  256. 

Miller  Place,  329. 

Mitchell's  Log-camp,  cemetery 
near,  361. 

Modeling,  interesting,  on  earthen 
ware  vessel,  289. 

Monolithic  pipes  of   Monitor  type. 

344,  346. 

Alt.  Adams,  mound  near,  340. 
McGuire,  Joseph  D.,  on  pipes  from 

Chandler    mounds,    White    river, 

345- 

Xeeley's  Ferry,  mounds  and  ceme 
tery  at,  309. 

Xegro  Hill,  mounds  near,  348. 

( )ld  Plum  Orchard  Landing, 
mound  near,  341. 

Orientation  of  burials  not  found  in 
St.  Francis  region,  272. 

Orientation  of  burials  not  found  in 
White  and  Black  river  region, 

34i- 
Ornament,  shell,  in  form  of  turtle, 

3ii- 
Ornaments     of     copper,    283,  284, 

307,  321,  361. 

Ornaments  of  shell,  281,  284,  286. 
Ornaments    of    shell     interestingly 

perforated    for   attachment,    284, 

3"- 
Owners    of    properties,    thanks    to, 

255- 

Parkin,   mound   at,    303. 

Parkin  mound,  much  previous  dig 
ging  in.  303. 

Peabody  Museum,  interesting  ves 


sels  from  St.  Francis  region,  in, 

333-  336-  337- 

Pendant  of  earthenware,  284. 
Penrose,  Prof.  R.  A.  F.,  Jr.,  256,263. 
Pepper  Field,  mound  near,  340. 
Perforation,    interesting    form    of, 

284,  311. 

Perkins  Field,  mound  near,  354. 
Personnel  of  the  expedition,  256. 
Pigment     from     St.    Francis   sites, 

nature  of,  258. 
Pilsbry,  Dr.  H.  A.,  256. 
Pin  of  bone,  273,  284. 
Pipes,  monolithic,  of  Monitor  type, 

344,  346. 
Pipe  of  earthenware,  of  interesting 

form,  343. 
Pipes  of  earthenware,  265,  267,  269, 

274,  278,  282,  308,  311,  312,  320, 

326,  327,  331,  332,  343. 
Pipes,  stone,  344,  346,  350,  354. 
Pipes     usually     found   apart    from 

burials,  278. 
Pipes     with     projecting     supports, 

274,  278,  311,  332. 
Potter    Place,    332. 
Pottery,  arrangement  of,  on  Black 

river,  353. 
Pottery,     arrangement    of,    on   St, 

Francis  river,  262,  267,  268,  273, 

274,  275,  289,  323,  327,  331,  332. 
Pottery,     comparative    absence    of, 

on  White  river,  339. 
Pottery  disks,     268,  276,  279,  282, 

284,  285,  308,  312,  320,  327,  331, 

352,  354- 

Pottery,  inferiority  of,  on  Black 
river,  339.  353,  360,  361. 

Pottery,  interesting  specimens 
from  St.  Francis  region,  in  Pea- 
body  Museum,  333,  336,  337. 

Pottery,  where  found  in  respect  to 
the  skeleton,  on  Black  river,  353. 

Pottery,  where  found  in  respect 
to  the  skeleton,  on  St.  Francis 
river,  261,  289,  305,  307,  308,  314, 
323,  327,  331,  332. 

Putnam,  Prof.  F.  W.,  256,  333. 

Rattles  in  modeled  heads  on  ves 
sels,  297,  301,  328. 

Rattlesnake,  diamond-back,  painted 
on  bottle,  328. 

Raybon,  Capt.  J.  S.,  255,  256. 

Remains  of  lower  animals,  identi 
fied  by  Professor  Lucas,  262. 

Restoration  of  pottery,  our  method 
of,  261. 

Rose  Mound,  276. 

Serpent,  crested,  conventionalized 
decoration  based  on  the,  293. 


Shell  drinking-cup,  284,  356. 
Shell  gorgets,  286,  311  320.  321,  322. 
Shell-tempered.  St.  Francis  ware  is, 

260. 
Sites    investigated    on   St.   Francis 

river,  262. 
Sites     investigated    on    White  and 

Black   rivers,   340. 
Sites  on  St.  Francis  river  believecl 

to  be  prehistoric.  258. 
Sites  on  St.   Francis   river,   nature 

of.  258,  277. 
Skeletal    remains     to  be   described 

later,  256. 

Skull  covered  by  fragments  of  pot 
tery,  333. 

Skulls  resting  in  bowls,  308,  330. 
Spade  of  flint,  331. 
Spearhead    of    copper,    ceremonial, 

283. 
Spoons  carved   from  mussel-shells, 

262,  273.  275,  276,  283.  285,  327. 
St.   Francis  river,  258. 
Stott    Place,   333. 
Sun  symbols  on  pottery,  297. 
Swastika,     designs    based   on   the, 

289,  294,  297,  301,  303,  314,  324, 

327,  331- 

Taylor's  Bayou,  mounds  near,  349. 
Teague  mound,  351. 
"Teapot"  vessels,  263,  301. 
"Teapot"  vessel,  animal  form,  301. 
"Teapot"     vessel,     unusual    variety 

of,  301.^ 

Territory   investigated,  255,  256. 
Thruston,  Gen.  Gates  P.,  269,  308. 
Togo,  mound  near,  305. 
Triskclc,  design  based  on  the,  327. 
Tube  of  claystone,  356. 
Tubes  of  bone,  281. 
Tucker  Bay,  mounds  near,  358. 
Turkey  Island,  mounds  above,  318. 
Turnbow  Place,  324. 
Turtle,  shell  ornament  in  form  of, 

curiously  perforated,  311. 
Upper  Hovey  Place,  mound  011,361. 
Urn-burial    on  the  St.  Francis,  one 

instance  of,  259,  325. 
Vanatta,  E.  G.,  256. 
Vessels     representing     the    human 

head,  295,  297. 

Vincent  Place,  mound  on,  350. 
Wamic  Place,  mounds  on,  350. 
Wardle,  H.  N.,  256. 
White  and  Black  rivers,  339. 
Whitehall  Place,  cemeteries  on,  264. 
Willoughby,   Charles   C.,   256,   261, 

281,  333. 
Work,  extent  of  season's,  255,  256. 


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